Yesterday was municipal election day in Ontario. Mayors, reeves and councillors were (re)elected to serve four-years terms - a big change from the two-year terms for the lowest-tier of government which were the rule until beginning of this century.
Congratulations to my brother-in-law on his re-election to council in the Town of Brockton, aka Walkerton, Ontario.
Here in Markham, there were no big surprises. We have a new mayor, Frank Scarpitti, by an 83% landslide, following the retirement of long-time Mayor Don Cousens (for health reasons). I know little about former deputy mayor Scarpitti and will watch him closely. He’s a little bit too much of the professional politician, and has been too eager to move up to the mayor’s office, compared to Cousens who everyone knew was in politics for the good of the town and not himself.
My own local councillor was returned, also with an 83% majority, but at least she had a couple of challengers this time. She proves how easy it is for incumbents to get re-elected, even if they do nothing for their constituents, as long as they avoid controversy and scandal. Sadly, despite six years in office Erin Shapero, has the political maturity of someone running for high school class president. But she is one of the new mayor’s groupies so I expect her to get some good committee appointments with the new council.
While her lead is only 90 votes, Linda Jackson has deposed neighbouring Vaughn's mayor. Not a moment too soon for her to bring in the auditors, an ethics commissioner, etc. to the most scandal prone municipality in the greater Toronto area.
In the big city to the south, aka Toronto, the mayor won, as expected, in a 2:1 lead over his nearest (of 38) challenger. He didn’t deserve such a win, based on a first term record noted only for it’s lack of achievement. But he had no serious competition and was able to coast to victory. Let’s see, with a four year term and new powers, granted the city by the province of Ontario, whether he remains a do-nothing or actually accomplishes something to address deteriorating conditions in Canada’s largest city. Given how beholden he is to the ultra-left, his union buddies and the local NDP machine, I am not optimistic. The good news in Toronto was that Olive Chow failed miserably in her attempt to manage who would be elected in her former ward. The NDP candidate was soundly rejected by Adam Vaughn as voters expressed a concern over the party's attempts to manage local politics rather than empowering the electorate to make its own choices.
With municipal elections over, a lot of politicos will be turning their attention to the federal Liberal leadership race. Decision day there is only a couple of weeks away.
