2023 Toronto Mayoral by-election

[SJD_Toronto]

Nobody should care about who is backing her.

There are three questions that need to be answered:
- What her voting record? - Abysmal (supporting TTC cuts, as a recent example).
- What is her judgement? - Abysmal (see drunk driving)
- What are her plans? - Abysmal (nno plans. just let's pretend Ford will solve my problems).

Maybe no one will care about who is backing her in the end. I don’t know, you don’t know. We will see. Bonnie Crombie may not have become Mississauga’s mayor in 2014 if Hazel McCallion didn’t publicly endorse her. The point is that sometimes endorsements help.

As to the three questions you listed:

What her voting record? – It’s closely aligned with Mayor Tory’s voting record, yes, but last time I looked, Tory was re-elected in two landslides. Clearly many residents who voted were happy with him so why wouldn’t most voters not be happy with Ana Bailao? And seeing that recent polls showed that John Tory could win back the mayor’s chair if he ran tells me that Ana Bailao’s voting record is fine with plenty of residents.

What is her judgement? – You are going to bring up the drunk drinking issue from years ago? Really? She made a terrible error in judgement. That’s clear, however, it seems that she hasn’t had another slip in judgement when it comes to drinking and driving. Maybe, just maybe, Ana Bailao recognized the mistake she made, was punished, and learned from it. That should be applauded.

On a personal note, I have a family member who went through years of drinking issues, and he got a DUI. That was his turning point. He got help, took the punishment and he hasn’t had a drink in years. I’m proud of him for fighting his demons. He is now employed with a fine job, he is married and enjoying his life. The whole drinking driving issue is unfair and a low blow.

What are her plans? – No plans? She has plans. You just disagree with them, which is totally fine. I like her plans and I believe she would be the best person to tackle the city’s issues moving forward. As for the whole idea that she only wants Premier Ford to solve the issues, yesterday city council overwhelmingly agreed that the province should take on the DVP and Gardiner, as an example. I would rather have a mayor who wants to try to work whoever the running our province than someone, like Josh Matlow, who seems to drool at the idea of picking a fight with someone who happens to be conservative. Like him or not, Doug Ford is the premier and he could be there for a long time to come. I don’t see Olivia Chow or Josh Matlow attempting to work well with the province on many issues.

 

[goreckm]

I don't see anyone campaigning on raising taxes to solve our own problems.
Has there been a candidate who hasn't hinged their plans on getting someone else to solve (pay for) our problems?

Matlow is the only candidate to do so, AFAIK. Not much, but, he did say he would have a dedicated new tax for improvements.

 

[goreckm]

What her voting record? – It’s closely aligned with Mayor Tory’s voting record, yes, but last time I looked, Tory was re-elected in two landslides. Clearly many residents who voted were happy with him so why wouldn’t most voters not be happy with Ana Bailao? And seeing that recent polls showed that John Tory could win back the mayor’s chair if he ran tells me that Ana Bailao’s voting record is fine with plenty of residents.

I'm sure you already know this, but, the main reason Tory won all of his subsequent elections, and would be favorued in this one, is name recognition. He won because he was a milquetoast alternative, people wanted to avoid drama, and then became the default option. Same reason why Chow is ahead now. Incumbency is a strong advantage in municipal politics, and I would be surprised if whichever candidate wins this elections didn't have smooth sailing in the next few elections as well.

What is her judgement? – You are going to bring up the drunk drinking issue from years ago? Really? She made a terrible error in judgement. That’s clear, however, it seems that she hasn’t had another slip in judgement when it comes to drinking and driving. Maybe, just maybe, Ana Bailao recognized the mistake she made, was punished, and learned from it. That should be applauded.

On a personal note, I have a family member who went through years of drinking issues, and he got a DUI. That was his turning point. He got help, took the punishment and he hasn’t had a drink in years. I’m proud of him for fighting his demons. He is now employed with a fine job, he is married and enjoying his life. The whole drinking driving issue is unfair and a low blow.

Yes, because, that is a pretty big lapse in judgement. I also have a family member with a DUI, and while he is enjoying his life, he wouldn't be the first to come to mind to run the city.

What are her plans? – No plans? She has plans. You just disagree with them, which is totally fine. I like her plans and I believe she would be the best person to tackle the city’s issues moving forward. As for the whole idea that she only wants Premier Ford to solve the issues, yesterday city council overwhelmingly agreed that the province should take on the DVP and Gardiner, as an example. I would rather have a mayor who wants to try to work whoever the running our province than someone, like Josh Matlow, who seems to drool at the idea of picking a fight with someone who happens to be conservative. Like him or not, Doug Ford is the premier and he could be there for a long time to come. I don’t see Olivia Chow or Josh Matlow attempting to work well with the province on many issues.

This part is obviously based on personal political preferences, but, yeah, we need someone to pick a fight, and shake things up in council. Council has been completely devoid of good ideas for decades, on both left and right. We need somebody to knock heads and shake things up. Oh, and if you are sweating Olivia Chow creating problems or picking fights with Ford, I would rest easy. Extremely unlikely. Modern NDP makes some noise on social media and on CPAC, but cowers away when things get even a bit heated.

 

[SJD_Toronto]

I'm sure you already know this, but, the main reason Tory won all of his subsequent elections, and would be favorued in this one, is name recognition. He won because he was a milquetoast alternative, people wanted to avoid drama, and then became the default option. Same reason why Chow is ahead now. Incumbency is a strong advantage in municipal politics, and I would be surprised if whichever candidate wins this elections didn't have smooth sailing in the next few elections as well.



Yes, because, that is a pretty big lapse in judgement. I also have a family member with a DUI, and while he is enjoying his life, he wouldn't be the first to come to mind to run the city.



This part is obviously based on personal political preferences, but, yeah, we need someone to pick a fight, and shake things up in council. Council has been completely devoid of good ideas for decades, on both left and right. We need somebody to knock heads and shake things up. Oh, and if you are sweating Olivia Chow creating problems or picking fights with Ford, I would rest easy. Extremely unlikely. Modern NDP makes some noise on social media and on CPAC, but cowers away when things get even a bit heated.

John Tory had the name recognition and the incumbency. I'm not disputing that at all. However, after both of those doesn't mean you will easily win re-election. Most people clearly liked having him as the mayor, liked the no drama and liked what brought to council. That said, if someone with a strong profile, the money and a great message had stepped up to challenge John Tory in 2018 or 2022, he could have had a real fight to face. Let's say Ana Bailao wins the mayor's chair and things seem to be moving smoothly at council. Well, she would have the advantage for re-election, but she could be knocked down if a strong challenger rises up. Good campaigning matters regardless.

I have had issues with extreme depression, and it's a fight I have to face often. It's not easy. That said, I am a manager at a company I love, and I always put my best foot forward when it comes to my work. I have the experience, passion and qualifications to do my job. Ana Bailao made a lapse in judgement many years ago. I think it's fair to believe she learned from it, and she will never make that mistake again. That doesn't mean she isn't qualified to oversee council and run the city for as long as she is in office. If she had a long history of drinking and driving, I would say that her judgement is very poor. It's not the case here. She has the experience and qualifications to do the job and clearly, other local politicians feel the same.

There is picking a fight for the right reasons and picking a fight for the wrong reasons. Whoever is elected mayor, I hope he or she fights the good fights for the city and not fighting the provincial or federal governments because he or she can regardless of political stripes. That's my fear with Josh Matlow. He says he would work with Doug Ford but who believes that? I want a champion at city council. I think that champion is Ana Bailao and I think she brings a lot to the table.

 

[Islington Express Bus]

You know not all fights between levels of government are because "he or she can", right? If the provincial government is proposing some dumb shit, then I want my mayor to fight it. Politicians should fight! They absolutely should not get along and agree on everything all of the time.

 

[W. K. Lis]

From link.

From the October 27, 2014 election in Toronto.

Turnout	54.67%

Candidate	John Tory	Doug Ford	Olivia Chow
Popular vote	394,775	330,610	226,879
Percentage	40.28%	33.73%	23.15%

 

[tiffer24]

Doug Ford now claims that Toronto has been poorly managed ever since his brother left office.

https://www.cp24.com/news/doug-ford-calls-out-local-councillors-hoping-to-be-toronto-mayor-1.6396217

 

[Northern Light]

Doug Ford now claims that Toronto has been poorly managed ever since his brother left office.

https://www.cp24.com/news/doug-ford-calls-out-local-councillors-hoping-to-be-toronto-mayor-1.6396217

Well, in fairness, he's basically right, its only that he's setting the start date for that mismanagement incorrectly. It began in 1998 under Lastman, and eased off a bit under Miller before returning in force under his brother.

 

[Fresco]

 

[W. K. Lis]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1657156745762881537

 

[adma]

I know we still have a long way to go, but those Furey numbers are scary. Other than that, no big surprises for me.

Re Furey: (1) his astute use of broadcast media for infomercial purposes, and (2) his name being offered as a prompt. (Offering a name as a prompt can do wonders for a candidate's polling. Though he still has a bit of a Sarah Thomson-esque "novelty candidate" cast about him)

 

[toonderly]

Re Furey: (1) his astute use of broadcast media for infomercial purposes, and (2) his name being offered as a prompt. (Offering a name as a prompt can do wonders for a candidate's polling. Though he still has a bit of a Sarah Thomson-esque "novelty candidate" cast about him)

I haven't noticed Furey being mentioned anywhere. Forgive me for being dense, but when you say his name is being offered as a prompt, do you mean the poll is somehow boosting him and leading respondents to rank him higher? Or is it some other context I am missing?

 

[adma]

I haven't noticed Furey being mentioned anywhere. Forgive me for being dense, but when you say his name is being offered as a prompt, do you mean the poll is somehow boosting him and leading respondents to rank him higher? Or is it some other context I am missing?

Yeah, that's what I mean by a prompt. By offering his name as one of the available options, rather than lost in the maw of "another candidate", it incentivizes people to choose that option. And from what I gather, he's been quite active in making his presence felt in CP24 types of places...

 

[alklay]

Plenty of weeks on that lawn...and I do not mean just the dandelions.

 

[Fresco]

That guy takes delusion to a whole other level