Campaign Notes: Choosing a Mayor for Mississauga! ⋆ Mississauga Life ✫ Spirit of the City

I’ve documented and reported on federal and municipal election campaigns, volunteered on provincial campaigns, fought the Clarkson power plants and have interviewed every elected politician in Mississauga. Being straight with these typically smart and interesting people is only fair. They trust me. I listen, honour their private remarks and try to be constructive.

Beyond native intelligence and a real interest in people, with a willingness to work hard, most politicians also possess some tough emotional controls, because politics is often heartbreaking.

On October 27, the vast majority of well-intentioned candidates will be defeated. This harsh political reality creates a bond between politicians of all parties, levels and hues because they know what it takes to win and they know how it feels to lose.

Hazel McCallion lost the first time she ran.

On October 19, I visited an earnest event at the Living Arts Centre. The Salute to Hazel: A Community Tribute was a staging of testimonial presentations in a well-organized show of disciplined, well-thought-out, two-to-three-minute salutes of gratitude to Hazel McCallion, who was standing, accepting, smiling, shaking hands and giving hugs for nearly four hours! “No chair, thanks,” she said, “I’m fine.”

During most of the time I’ve spent with the legendary Mayor McCallion, I have felt, to some degree, like a witness to history.

Last month, McCallion was an honoured delegate on trade missions to China and Brazil, and she accepted another international award for excellence, this time in Dallas for economic development. Between meetings she endorsed Bonnie Crombie, catching the Steve Mahoney campaign in a most difficult moment when his mother was dying. McCallion threw a close contest into a clear advantage for Crombie, and her favour will be credited with making the difference in a formerly tight race.

Our Mayor has enjoyed the most amazing political run in Canadian history, and I am awed by her accomplishments, but going forward Hazel McCallion is a limiting influence on Mississauga life and any meddling has to stop.

In the Campaign to Replace Mayor McCallion
I’m grateful for the well-thought-out ideas Steve Mahoney produced, and his first-rate presentation and quick analysis, revealed to listeners and viewers with exceptional communication skills. He had new and intriguing innovations on problems, and most importantly he spoke about probing for solutions rather than dull repetitions of how hard it would be to solve the problems.

The Mahoney campaign prepared policy positions that, depending on assessment, could be acted upon as they were practically devised and linked to current policies.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case with the Crombie campaign, where the “planks” read almost like instructions for microwaving frozen pizzas.

Last Week’s Push
On Burnhamthorpe Road West in an Erindale plaza, Mahoney, the man who has wanted to be mayor of Mississauga for over 25 years, prepared to enter the last week of the campaign, down but not out.

It had been an upsetting few days. Mahoney heard of McCallion’s impromptu endorsement while in a hospital where he would witness the passing of his mother. He had absorbed the ripple effect of the mayor’s words on a large block of undecided voters that a subsequent poll indicated could lead to a clear victory for Bonnie Crombie. As many people put it: “If Bonnie is good enough for Hazel, she’s good enough for me.”

Madame Mayor dreads the prospect of any new mayor, in post-election freedom, discovering that all was not well in the previous administration—she’ll have none of that “look what we’ve found!” discovery nonsense to worry about under Crombie’s watch.

The passing of the mayoral torch from an aging star to a young star points to a major difference between Crombie and Mahoney campaigns.

Bonnie Crombie lights up rooms, her warm inclusive smile and bearing excites people, especially young people and new Canadians, and because of her genuine interest and understanding, she is loved. Her energy and charisma are palpable. She is a star.

Steve Mahoney is charming, smart and makes others feel like stars.

In This Corner
On a sunny Sunday afternoon, Mahoney’s team has gathered around him a remarkable group of experienced and successful politicians. Remarkable because they come from all levels of government, are former foes of each other and of Mahoney himself—and in some cases they’re still enemies—yet here they are standing for Steve Mahoney, out of respect for his ability to, as City Councillor Sue McFadden said, “build bridges, while Bonnie burns them down.”

Mahoney has understandably made much of the support he enjoys from McFadden and fellow Councillors Pat Saito, Ron Starr, Pat Mullin, and Katie Mahoney, of course. They have taken the unusual step of stretching some political necks to speak up for Mahoney, the candidate running against their current work colleague Bonnie Crombie.

This underlines the Mahoney versus Crombie nature of this campaign—that is, the team versus the star. Too often, the charge has been uttered that Councillor Crombie is too good at making enemies.

Former Progressive Conservative MPP Rob Sampson campaigned hard against Steve Mahoney and beat him in 1995. Today he delivers the same message, as does current provincial Liberal MPP Bob Delaney and federal Conservative MP Brad Butt: they repeat that to get anything done for Mississauga, the next mayor will have to work well with the provincial and federal levels of government, and they say that the candidate with the best experience and skills to do that is Steve Mahoney.

Mahoney spells it out: “I can say I’ll get it done because I’ve already done it.” He’s done deals with provinces and cities, he’s been an MP and cabinet minister, a city councillor, an MPP and the chair of WSIB, a major crown corporation. He’s got the experience and all at the microphone agree.

It is surprising to see MPP Harinder Takhar here supporting Mahoney when Crombie went out of her way to support Takhar at the last Ontario Liberal Leadership Convention. All these politicians know or have worked with Bonnie Crombie, and yet they stand for Steve Mahoney. I don’t get it.

When exhausted mayoralty candidate Stephen King stands at the lectern to offer his support for Steve Mahoney, he is most emotional when he talks of Crombie’s “unprofessional behaviour” during the debates, alluding to her repeatedly mocking other candidates.

Crombie’s knee-jerk jump to put down competitors has offended many who have seen the mayoral debates, and when Mahoney comments on it he claims, “Bonnie Crombie has no track record, so she attacks mine. All she knows how to do is attack.”

This is about as rough as Mahoney gets, and I recall seeing Crombie deliver exaggerated claims that attacked the essence of who he is. And they did offend.

I am struck looking at all these veteran politicians gathered in the Mahoney campaign office that there are limits, that all is not fair in politics, and that bright though she is, Crombie’s long-term success may well depend on whether she can moderate her own behaviour and learn to work well with others.

Three Questions
The underlying condition of this election is that the answers to the question of what to do are generally well-known, but answers to the question of how to get these challenges done is more important. And finally the question of who we are is embedded in the identity of our next mayor and is the most crucial question.

With Hazel McCallion’s departure, we are going into an identity void. The city is too young to have much of an established identity beyond McCallion, and we will lose our competitive edge unless we can replace her iconic image with a sparkling new one. Who is best suited to carry forward our city’s brand identity and become the new image of Mississauga?

I think we need a brand advocate and leader who is capable of representing the whole city and keeping Mississauga on competitive par with the accomplished new mayors coming to Toronto and Brampton.

Many believe that Bonnie Crombie represents a confident, intelligent and youthful presence that will rewrite the city’s identity, invigorate its cool factor, and vault Mississauga into greater national consideration as the place for businesses to settle. The city will then be seen to be in tune with modern tastes, needs and fashions. Mississauga’s leadership they say need this injection of youth.

Others believe that Steve Mahoney’s experience, intelligence and ability to work with stakeholders from all levels of government will put Mississauga on a fast track to greater accomplishment.

On Monday voters have an important choice to make—one that will influence the way our city works and is seen.

Campaign Notes: Choosing a Mayor for Mississauga!

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