http://www.thestar.com/news/article/984566--james-gta-boosted-tories-but-will-they-return-the-favour
Long considered a pariah in his own hometown, Leaside-born Stephen Harper broke through the Liberal fortress in Toronto to deliver the majority government his Conservative party craved.
In so doing, Harper’s Conservatives won in Toronto for the first time since 1993. But it was the rise of Jack Layton and the New Democratic Party that pushed the Liberals to the brink of irrelevance across the country and left the mighty red machine a weakened shell of itself in Toronto.
Still, the Tories won only a modicum of seats south of Steeles. And no one should mistake this as wedded bliss. Rather, it’s a marriage of convenience — a union sprung from split votes and divided loyalties.
The Harper victory, bolstered in part by the controversial public support from Mayor Rob Ford —Toronto mayors usually watch from the sideline and not endorse a party — sends several messages to the city.
For one, Harper and Ford are aligned in a partnership that might help the mayor deliver on his promise of a subway along Sheppard Ave.
Second, provincial Liberals might expect more of the same from Ford when Ontario goes to the polls in October.
And third, the Conservative march into Ontario continues to move south. Tory blue now dominates the regions around Toronto and has begun to leak into Toronto proper.
For years, Toronto mayors avoided the temptation to publicly endorse a political party in provincial or federal elections. Conventional wisdom suggested it was best to keep one’s options open because relations can become strained if the guy you just finished slamming end up as the premier or the Prime Minister.
Ford, of course, defied convention and travelled to Brampton last week to enthusiastically endorse Harper. His excuse?
Harper “wants to help us build subways.â€
Ford scrapped a provincially approved Transit City plan that was heavy on light rail running down the middle of the street, and replaced it with a subway plan as soon as he took office. Subways cost more and the mayor is short $4 billion. So he intends to go to the private sector to find building partners. But that won’t be enough.
He also dreams of landing a sizeable cheque from Ottawa — the type of largesse that has been missing from the federal government when it comes to transit.
Besides the potential subway money — Harper has not promised a dime, at least in public — Ford is more aligned with Harper’s politics that trumpets tax cuts and smaller government. He said the other parties would send Toronto to the poorhouse with their policies, while Harper will continue efforts to boost public-private partnerships for infrastructure spending, such as subways.
It seems Ford’s gamble paid off. Legitimately, he can expect federal help for Toronto from a Conservative government.
What provincial Liberals may be concerned about is that this election result might embolden Ford Nation to back the Tories in the October provincial election and send the Dalton McGuinty Liberals packing.
As stunning as the Liberal decline was, the ascendancy of the NDP was the story of the election. And that cannot hurt the plight of cities.
Jack Layton, the former Toronto councillor who couldn’t convince his adopted city to make him mayor, captured the hearts of Canadians and is now leader of the opposition with a magnificent performance.
Progressives in Toronto are heartened.
NDP support spilled beyond downtown Toronto into the suburbs of Scarborough, knocking off some stalwart Liberals.
This was the strangest of campaigns for Canada’s largest city. There’s the Tory leader who was born here, doesn’t live here, and has no affinity to the place. The NDP leader who practised his politics here had to find love in Quebec. And the Liberal leader whose enduring political base is decades old here found no footing, and is now tossed to the political garbage heap.
Layton feels Toronto in his bones and knows its nooks and crannies, having served as an exceptional city councillor for years. Yet, it is not here that he got the jolt of support that propelled him to national prominence — a surge that gave this election its only spark and its beat. No, Layton had to go to Quebec for that. Then, Toronto and Ontario followed.
Harper is a Torontonian by birth only. Once, maybe twice, in the campaign, he ventured into the city proper. He doesn’t love Toronto, despite his Leaside birth. And Toronto returns the sentiment.
Still, they gave him enough love to push him into the majority he desperately needed.
