A Sun perspective on the race...
Lorrie GoldsteinTue, November 7, 2006
Four more years of Miller?
Toronto Sun/Leger Marketing poll says Jane Pitfield isn't going to win and the race isn't even close
By LORRIE GOLDSTEIN, ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Nothing would make me happier than for veteran city councillor Jane Pitfield to win the Toronto mayor's race on Monday. I think she's by far the best candidate of the choices available to us.
Her sensible views on the big issues such as crime, gridlock, taxes, incineration and homelessness, are far more in line with those of most Torontonians compared to the uninspired, left-wing orthodoxy of Mayor David Miller.
But if today's Toronto Sun/Leger Marketing poll is accurate, Pitfield isn't going to win and the race isn't even close.
There's no way she can make up a 2:1 lead among decided voters favouring Miller (44%-22%) with less than a week to go. (Stephen LeDrew, at 2%, is irrelevant.)
To lose now, Miller would have to do something insane like promising to tear down the Gardiner and impose road tolls. It won't happen.
All indications are this is going to be a sleepy little election which Miller and all the incumbent councillors want, since it means most will win on name recognition alone.
Put it this way. If next Monday evening you see the following group of 10 NDP councillors re-elected, (along with one newcomer whom Miller is shilling for) you'll know that it will be business as usual for the next four years at City Hall.
That will mean annual tax hikes well above inflation, more kowtowing to the city's powerful trade unions and deteriorating city services as our streets get dirtier and gridlock gets worse.
The 10 incumbent NDPers seeking re-election, who along with Miller are the guardians of this dismal status quo, are: Maria Augimeri (Ward 9, York Centre); Glenn De Baeremaeker (Ward 38, Scarborough Centre); Sandra Bussin (Ward 32, Beaches- East York); Janet Davis (Ward 31, Beaches-East York); Paula Fletcher (Ward 30, Toronto-Danforth); Adam Giambrone (Ward 18, Davenport); Pam McConnell (Ward 28, Toronto-Centre Rosedale); Joe Mihevc (Ward 21, St. Paul's); Howard Moscoe (Ward 15, Eglinton-Lawrence) and Joe Pantalone (Ward 19, Trinity-Spadina). The newcomer is Gord Perks, whom Miller is pumping for in Ward 14, Parkdale-High Park, even sharing election signs with him.
While there are other, so-called "non-aligned" councillors who in fact support Miller on every big vote, it's the NDP caucus that is the core of his political power. If you're wondering how the mayor and 11 left-wing allies can control a 45-member council, it's easy.
First, the mayor dispenses many plumb assignments at City Hall, meaning councillors who might otherwise oppose him don't want to offend him and thus go along to get along.
Second, with 12 assured votes including his own, Miller only has to find 11 more from the remaining 33 councillors to reach the 23 votes needed to win any vote on the 45-member council.
By contrast, the so-called "opposition" to Miller, has to start from scratch on every issue, and somehow find 23 votes among 33 councillors.
Given the wide range of political views among these 33 non-aligned councillors, that's almost impossible.
That's why Miller doesn't lose any key votes, especially since many councillors who aren't officially part of the NDP caucus might as well be, given how slavishly they follow the Miller/NDP line on the big decisions.
IRON GRIP
If Miller's political opponents on council had been serious about breaking his iron grip, they would have rallied behind Pitfield instead of gutlessly shunning her for fear of offending the mayor.
As for the so-called Tory and Liberal "movers and shakers" in Toronto (as the media dubbed them) who anonymously torpedoed Pitfield's campaign by saying they were waiting for someone better to come along, congratulations boys -- since most of them are boys.
Now you've got Miller and the NDP in charge for four more years.
And there'll be plenty of other Tory and Liberal "movers and shakers" who will have the mayor's ear because they ran his campaign -- old backroom boys like Tories John Laschinger and Ralph Lean and Liberals Peter Donolo and Pat Gossage.
They're in and you're out. Happy now?
