ADRM
Senior Member
I'm betting that if DoFo magically keeps his promise and doesn't run for Mayor, Keesmaat throws her hat in the ring (and she's most definitely got my vote in that scenario).
And then, hello, complete streets.
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Yonge Street, North York Streetscape Improvements
- Thread starter salsa
- Start date
I'm betting that if DoFo magically keeps his promise and doesn't run for Mayor, Keesmaat throws her hat in the ring (and she's most definitely got my vote in that scenario).
And then, hello, complete streets.
amnesiajune
Senior Member
Lol. Keesmaat would get steamrolled by John Tory. She'd make the 2006 election look competitive.
ADRM
Senior Member
I'm really not so sure about that; she has a sizable public profile and directly relevant experience that none of the other candidates had last time around.
amnesiajune
Senior Member
Relevant experience? She has some in city bureaucracy but basically no experience in elected politics, and it's impossible to become the mayor without having a political machine behind you. Sizeable public profile? Not outside of the few people who closely follow policy discussions.
If she wants to get into elected politics (I don't think she does) and she's smart about politics (obviously she is) she'll run in her home ward against Cristin Carmichael Greb. That's actually an easy seat to win and she can build up a real public profile and informal caucus that makes her viable four years from now. Whether you want to admit it or not, there's nobody who's better than a long shot against John Tory - for all his faults, very few people are dissatisfied enough with him that they'll vote for someone else.
salsa
Senior Member
Would be interesting to see Keesmaat having to run against her own transit plan that she worked on as city planner.
ADRM
Senior Member
I find it very odd to dismiss her experience as the person in charge of planning transit, housing, and some aspects of infrastructure, given that those are all likely to be very hot-button issues in the election, to say nothing of the fact that she has the advantage of being able to disclose potentially damaging private interactions she had with the Mayor whilst in that position.
She's also a very good debater and public speaker, is extremely well connected (and would have no problem gathering the requisite campaign machinery), has a sizable social media following, and a semi-regular spot on a radio show with a very large audience that carries well outside the people who closely follow municipal policy.
All that said, I actually don't disagree with your notion that she'd face an uphill battle against Tory and that he'd still be the favourite head-to-head; I just think it's a bridge too far to dismiss her candidacy altogether or to compare her prospects to the much less impressive and feasible candidates from the last go-around.
amnesiajune
Senior Member
I'll be more blunt then - she has absolutely no experience in elected politics, absolutely no experience on city council, and absolutely no political machine behind her. She's not a long shot; she's a no-shot candidate.
How did Rob Ford win? He spent a decade on city council and got support from city councillors pretty much everywhere except downtown and the west end. He built a huge political machine, and took advantage of it even though he had practically no control of it. He made himself the face of discontent with the status quo and forced the other candidates to agree with him on key issues (even Joe Pantalone ended up promising to repeal the vehicle registration tax).
How did John Tory go from third place in the polls to the mayor's office over six months? He ran for office a few times and learned from the mistakes he made in 2003 and 2007. He built a political machine bigger than the Layton machine, and he put together a very broad coalition of councillors supporting him - everyone from John Filion to Denzil Minnan-Wong.
Keesmaat is an issues person. She's not an elections person - not yet, at least. She has absolutely no chance of beating John Tory in this election.
11th
Senior Member
I was referring to that map. Those two wards are all patches of green and blues. Now look at the North Toronto wards, all deep green, no blues; and if you look at the 2010 election map, 23 and 24 were Ford-leaning.
amnesiajune
Senior Member
That's just wrong. Tory won 56 of the 64 polls in Ward 23 and 33 of 49 in Ward 24. Ford won fewer polls by 10% than Tory won by 50% (as in, Tory got 50 percentage points more than any other candidate). Doug Ford won as many polls in Ward 23 as he did in Ward 28 (that's Pam McConnell's old downtown constituency).
44 North
Senior Member
I can't imagine Keesmaat getting more than 5% of votes. Kinda picture a Stintz situation if she ran, which was obviously a blip. And that was from someone who arguably had a larger profile and name recognition than Keesmaat. Not to say Keesmaat wouldn't do a lot of great things as mayor. But Tory is a powerhouse, and Keesmaat is not exactly well known.
As if Ford was a household name outside of his Ward when he first ran.
amnesiajune
Senior Member
He wasn't outside of Etobicoke, but he had a great political machine that made him a household name.
sunnyraytoronto
Senior Member
Getting back on topic (did I say that?),...... here's a link for the open letter to Mayor Tory from the numerous special interest groups outside the area supporting "Tranform Yonge" option,...
https://www.cycleto.ca/news/transform-yonge-letter
Yours sincerely,
Amanda O’Rourke, Executive Director, 8 80 Cities
Geoff Kettel and Cathie Macdonald, Co-Chairs, Federation of North Toronto Residents Associations (FoNTRA)
Gideon Forman, Policy Analyst, the David Suzuki Foundation
Graham Larkin, Executive Director, Vision Zero Canada
Jared Kolb, Executive Director, Cycle Toronto
Jesse James, Willowdale Community Outreach Worker, Youth Unlimited (Toronto YFC) *** local high-school teacher who's parent live in Willowdale - only one with any connection to Willowdale
Kasia Briegmann-Samson, Co-founder, Spokesperson, Friends and Families for Safe Streets
Rebecca Goodwin, Spokesperson, Walk Toronto
Tom Worrall, Spokesperson, Lytton Park Residents' Organization
Before they tell other parts of the City how things should be done,.... they need to work a bit harder on their diversity especially if they want to represent a multi-cultural city.
https://www.cycleto.ca/news/transform-yonge-letter
Yours sincerely,
Amanda O’Rourke, Executive Director, 8 80 Cities
Geoff Kettel and Cathie Macdonald, Co-Chairs, Federation of North Toronto Residents Associations (FoNTRA)
Gideon Forman, Policy Analyst, the David Suzuki Foundation
Graham Larkin, Executive Director, Vision Zero Canada
Jared Kolb, Executive Director, Cycle Toronto
Jesse James, Willowdale Community Outreach Worker, Youth Unlimited (Toronto YFC) *** local high-school teacher who's parent live in Willowdale - only one with any connection to Willowdale
Kasia Briegmann-Samson, Co-founder, Spokesperson, Friends and Families for Safe Streets
Rebecca Goodwin, Spokesperson, Walk Toronto
Tom Worrall, Spokesperson, Lytton Park Residents' Organization
Before they tell other parts of the City how things should be done,.... they need to work a bit harder on their diversity especially if they want to represent a multi-cultural city.
Attachments
11th
Senior Member
That's two different metrics. Polls vs. number of votes, and it doesn't discount the fact the two wards are at the least centre-right leaning overall. Tory is centre-right and Ford is far-right.
realestate890
New Member
I really agree with you, buddy. The government should do something to give good service to their people.