I find this campaign for the mayoralty in Toronto on June 26 to be quite boring. It reminds me of the old song: “It seems to me I’ve heard that song before.” It is an old Helen Forrest number she did with Harry James in the heyday of Swing. It is part of the wife’s repertoire of Swing era songs and I have heard her sing it many times.
First of all, Toronto is not broken, neither financially nor in the operational sense. To say that is to give up. This city has opportunities yet unknown. It needs rental housing, transit, ever-growing and necessary networks of storm and sanitary sewers. It needs firm and judicious hands on its policing. It needs compassionate understanding of the homeless. Sure, the city needs constant repairs to infrastructure and new infrastructure for tomorrow. It desperately needs geared-to-income housing. And all of this seems to be needed at the same time.
Confusion and chaos are hardly unique to Toronto. I have driven in just about every major city in Canada as well as in the United States from Boston to Los Angeles and from Miami to Seattle. I was in Boston a couple times during what they called ‘The Big Dig” and I later tried the solution it offered. The difference was amazing. Toronto’s closing down Queen Street from York to Victoria for two years is a serious inconvenience but the outcome should be worth it.
One thing I always admired about John Tory as mayor is that he can keep a lot of balls in the air. I keep watching for that ability among those with a potential to replace Tory. The former police chief is a non-starter. Olivia Chow is too old, too out of the running and of no consequence. Josh Matlow is too shrill. Ana Bailão seems to lack the understanding of the suburbs. Brad Bradford is too close to the premier. I must admit that the mixed background of Mitzie Hunter looks better every day.
Nobody is going to fix all of Toronto’s problems overnight. Even the very controlled administrations in Chicago and New York go from one panic to another. Los Angeles really is one great big freeway. And nobody wants the problems of Miami.
Voters in this Toronto by-election have to care about their city. It will be the most important decision they will make before the provincial election in June of 2026.
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Copyright 2023 © Peter Lowry
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