This is perhaps the most interesting set of municipal
elections in Ontario in quite some time. On October 27th voters
across the province will be electing their local officials. While the mayoralty
race in Toronto has garnered the most attention there are contentious elections
in Mississauga, Brampton, Hamilton, London and Sudbury. My hometown, Brampton,
has a significant number of open seats as a large number of councillors retired
this year as well the controversial mayor of Brampton faces serious
challengers. Some people back home have asked for some help picking out
candidates so here are my suggestions for Brampton’s elections. There are a
huge number of candidates running so making an informed decision is
challenging. I would appreciate any feedback and wish all the citizens of
Brampton good luck in making their choices.
I did not do school board endorsements because finding
information for those races is very challenging.
Mayor
While Mayor Susan Fennell protests her innocence and
threatens lawsuits to her critics it seems clear that her time and office will
and should end. Even before the spending scandals began I was no fan of Mayor
Fennell. Her leadership style and position on issues has been troubling for me.
Brampton has severely lacked in leadership to manage the transformation from a
sleepy suburb to an urban community. Leadership has been far too reactive and
not enough proactive to meet challenges the city faces. Fennell faces two
realistic opponents, current regional councillor John Sanderson and former Liberal
MPP for Brampton-Springdale Linda Jeffrey. Polling suggests Jeffrey is in the lead. To be honest I am not entirely
satisfied with either Sanderson or Jeffrey. Both candidates are still appealing
to the auto-oriented development style that can no longer help Brampton. Both
discuss highway and road expansion/widening. The Hurontario LRT is one of the
most important issues to my mind and both are non-committal or critical of the
current route.
Reading the platforms it seems to me that Jeffrey offers vague
promises that rely to a large degree on action by the provincial government. Sanderson offers greater detail within the
scope of a municipal mandate and a far more detailed platform. Sanderson has
been pushing for greater accountability in city hall and his experience as a
member of council should serve him well as mayor of the city. For me, John
Sanderson is the best choice for Brampton’s next mayor.
City Council
Looking at the candidates for city council was more difficult than I had hoped.
Far from Brampton I had to rely on the information I could find online. Many
candidates seem to have no internet presence at all and a brief description on
a webpage of Facebook page is hardly enough to base an informed decision. Given
that some of the following should be considered under the caveat of incomplete
information.
Wards 1 & 5
City Councillor Grant Gibson and Regional Councillor
Elaine Moore are seeking re-election. I’ve met with Elaine Moore and think she
is deserving of another term. I am less familiar with Mr. Gibson, but none of
his opponents seem credible enough for me to recommend unseating the current
city councillor. Given how many new councillors there will be in the next
Council it will be valuable to have a few experienced hands.
Wards 2 & 6
An open race for the city council seat will mean a
competitive election. Reviewing the available websites I was intrigued by Mr.
Sukhminder Singh Hansra. I think he has some misguided policies, like increasing policing, but he
actually addresses issues like poverty and affordable housing, which is
depressingly rare. His experience as a journalist and long-time resident of the
city makes him a strong candidate in my opinion.
For regional councillor John Hutton is seeking re-election for regional councillor.
Mandeep Jassal looks like an interesting challenger for the incumbent. Jassal’s platform
indicates that he is an urban progressive with interesting policy ideas. His
support for a city-wide bike network and expansion of transit services and fair
representation for Brampton makes a compelling case.
Wards 3 & 4
Bob Callahan is retiring this year which has led to a
wide range of candidates seeking to replace him. More challenging to voters in
Wards 3 & 4 is that John Sanderson is running for mayor making an opening
for regional councillor too.
Looking at the candidates putting their names forward in
3 & 4 for City Council Michael Freeman stands out to me. Given
his experience and platform I think he has a reasonable, thoughtful vision for my
home community. While I am not in favour of his proposal, Freeman has a
detailed plan for the Hurontario LRT and how it can form the basis for a
stronger transit system. Outside of the big picture policies he also has nice
planks on important local issues, like modernizing Peel Village Park. I
recommend checking out his platform positions. In addition I would like to recommend looking at Jeff Bowman, a businessman, community volunteer and life-long Bramptonian. Freeman and Bowman share a great deal in common in their platforms. I like what Mr. Bowman has to say about affordable housing and he has a novel notion for a re-routed Hurontario LRT to the new hospital complex. I think the biggest highlight to me is Mr. Bowman's reference to Brampton's "unbridled growth" and the employment issues and affordability of this approach. Jeff Bowman is passionate about his community, that much is clear, and is worthy of consideration.
For regional council I would cast my ballot for Kevin Montgomery. Kevin is passionate advocate for
re-examining transportation and urban design practices in Brampton. He also has
platform planks on a wide array of important topics such as poverty and mental
health. I think he would be a valuable voice at city hall and regional council.
Wards 7 & 8
For city council in Wards 7 & 8 I would like to throw
my support behind Veenay Sehdev. Veenay might be
the candidate I am most familiar with in this election. Full disclosure, a
friend connected us so I could offer some advice on his campaign. I found
Veenay passionate, intelligent and bold. He is also young, which would be a
valuable voice compared to our last city council.
There was insufficient information for choosing a
candidate for regional council. The incumbent Gael Mills was the only one with
a website that I found. That being the case I am uncomfortable endorsing
anyone.
Wards 9 & 10
The city council race is pretty narrow in Wards 9 and 10
compared to the others. Vicky Dhillon is the incumbent and he is seeking
re-election. Of the candidates available I would lean towards voting for
Gurpreet Dhillon, who was the recent ONDP candidate for Brampton-Springdale.
Unsurprisingly I am in favour of more progressive voices at city hall.
For regional council John Sprovieri is seeking
re-election. I have a tough time picking an endorsement for this race. I would
encourage voters in these wards look at Michelle Shaw or
Gurratan Singh. I like what Mr. Singh has to say,
but his platform is not fully fleshed out, on the other hand Ms. Shaw has more
platform planks, but lacks in details.
Overview
Brampton, hopefully, has reached an inflection point. The
old-style of doing things has come to an end and if the city is to make
progress moving forward it means changes in leadership. Brampton can’t think of
itself as a sleepy suburb, it is a city of over a half-million people. Evidence
and case studies around the world show us that sprawling suburban development
is not the way to build successful, healthy cities. Brampton will look very
different fifty years from now, but it will take time and thoughtful
politicians and citizens to get us there. Hopefully the next city council can
lead this transformation for a better Brampton.
A full list of candidates in Brampton can be found here. Best of luck to the candidates who put their names forward.
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