Political campaigns in the 21st century

I never thought I'd live to see the day that we'd be using the terms 'traditional media' vs. 'non traditional media'. That we'd be blogging our opinions about a candidate or sending tweets (wasn't that a sound birds made?)in real time (did we have 'false time'?)about political campaigns, from the White House, 24 Sussex, G20 summits, the Olympics --- well you get the idea.

So much has been said about how Barack Obama took advantage of 21st century technology to win the White House. Then-Senator Obama realised the power of social networking and had no qualms about harnessing its massive reach to make history.

Do we even remember how simple it was to watch the news on television? We turned on either of the three major networks --- ABC, NBC, CBS --- and watched the news. That was all there is to it. Now you hear Larry King say 'follow me on Twitter'or if you missed your favourite newscast, one can always log on to a network's web page and read/listened/watch it all there. Their online editions have sound and video for your newswatching pleasure. So do print organisations --- my favourite online news sites of what used to be the print media have video and audio links.

The world has become a global village. Thank you, Mr. Mcluhan. I still remember the morning I watched the attacks on the World Trade Center --- we refer to that tragedy as '9/11' a brief time capsule of a catastrophic event. I was watching the 'Today' show when the screen suddenly changed to the first Tower with smoke coming out of it and then the second plane plowed into the second Tower. All in real time! 'live' as they say in broadcast parlance. All major networks had wall-to-wall coverage. It affected me so much that I couldn't sleep for a month!

Remember how dailies used to print 'extra' editions when there was breaking news of great importance? And newsboys would hawk these editions like town criers "EXTRA! EXTRA! read all about it!" It's heartening to note that in this day and age of the internet Washington dailies printed extra copies of the news of President Obama's inauguration. People wanted hard copy keepsakes instead of just reading about this historic event online or buying the video later.

So whether a politician is running for local or national office his or her campaign will inevitably have a social media component. They cannot afford not to. Voters can access information literally at their fingertips and even exchange tweets with a candidate or be a Facebook follower.

The upside? It's everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-a-candidate-but-were-no-longer-afraid-to ask.

The downside? The hackers who hack into a politician's account and throw everything haywire or assume an identity to get information.

As for me, I'm glad we're no longer writing on cave walls or sending messages via carrier pigeons.

Three cheers for Social Media!

And so starts the Year of our Ford

With apologies to the Globe and Mail's Marcus Gee from whose article on Mayor Rob Ford's first day as helmsman of the City of Toronto I'm borrowing the title of this blog post.

And so it has begun ... with gag gifts of gravy packets left behind by outgoing mayor, David Miller, and his team the Ford era unfolds before us.

Let's review the five most important factors that led Rob Ford to City Hall:

1. Stop the gravy train, indeed! That was the mantra of Team Ford. No more wasteful spending! Words that resonated with the citizens of Toronto and which they took to battle leaving Ford's rivals in the dust. Belt-tightening is going to be the order of the day.

2. More subways and buses instead of Transit City. Ford considers marathons and charity runs as events that snarl traffic in Toronto.

3. The barbs aimed at Ford questioning his character, his weight helped boost his campaign instead of being detrimental to it. Ford's handlers like to point out that a Stephen Marche column in the Globe and Mail using the word 'fat' 17 times added to the campaign's coffers. And who likes to be called names? Perhaps voters looked at it as bullying and voted for him.

4. The Oxycontin episode was handled well. Read the inside story here.

5. Ford's campaign bypassed traditional media outlets. Text messages were used instead of IPhone apps. Rob Ford was exposed to town hall-style telephone calls talking to respondents a la talk radio. And most telling of all his rivals' campaigns started to stumble. All that noise about a supposed photofinish between Smitherman and Ford never materialized. Ford was swept into City Hall with an overwhelming 47 per cent of the vote.

For a sampling of how voters felt about Rob Ford, read it here.

Rob Ford's handlers never put him in an Armani suit. The electorate wanted someone down-to-earth and not a politician with airs who wouldn't give them the time of day. Ford was probably the only councillor who answered his phone. Who does that?

Note to government leaders: you might want to learn from Toronto's new mayor. He's all for substance over style.

Hey, about swapping mayors?

If politics weren't humourous we'd all be sporting long, morose faces. A recent Craigslist ad offered to swap Toronto mayor-elect Rob Ford for Calgary's new mayor, Naheed Nenshi.

Yes, you read it right, Nenshi is Canada's first Muslim mayor. The anti-Ford Craigslist advertiser obviously has an axe to grind against Toronto's newly minted mayor. The ad focuses on Nenshi's Harvard background and other qualifications that Ford doesn't have.

In any event, Nenshi, who was born in Toronto,and learned about the Craigslist ad expressed no interest in moving back to 'Hogtown'.

Uneasy rests the head that wears the crown, so they say, but Mayor-elect Rob Ford can breathe a sigh of relief that in spite of the embittered Craigslist advertiser, he'll fulfill his mandate as Toronto's duly elected head of the city.

Can we get on with our lives now?

Aung San Suu Kyi's release

I picked up a free copy of the Toronto Star outside the Eaton's Centre and made my way to Union Station. The first thing that caught my eye was the possible release of one of the most famous political prisoners of our time --- Aung San Suu Kyi --- and her much awaited release from house arrest.

Given the time difference between Myanmar and Toronto I hurried to Sheridan College to check the news online. Sure enough the online newssites were abuzz with news of the Nobel Peace Prize winner's release from more than seven years of house arrest.

The BBC called it Myanmar's 'Mandela moment'. Listen to it here.

Aung San Suu Kyi paid a heavy personal price in her fight for democracy in her homeland. She could not visit her British husband when he was dying of cancer fearful that the Burmese military junta would block her return. He died in the UK without seeing her. According to her brother-in-law, Adrian Phillips, he hasn't spoken to her in twenty years so the whole family is delighted at the news of her release.

What's next for Aung San Suu Kyi?

Her lawyer, Nyan Win, told reporters that she will resume active politics and 'make organizing tours throughout the country,'

Like Nelson Mandela before her, Myanmar's pro-democracy leader showed grace after her release and called for 'talks with all groups to achieve national reconciliation'.

French lessons and other expenses

Talk of learning French and billing the taxpayers for it! Retiring councilor Adam Giambrone has been criticized for learning the language of Voltaire and Toronto taxpayers are the poorer for it.

Not to be outdone is Sandra Bussin. She's Ms. Big Spender herself. Consider this: she has spent $43,000 of her $48,000+ annual allowance. Not many of us even make that kind of money in a year!!!

While Rob Ford clocked in at less than $70.00 ---$65.79 to be exact --- which he reimbursed out of his own pocket.

Perhaps Mr. Ford's mantra of 'stopping the gravy train' makes sense after all.

The Rob Ford era has begun

And so a new era has begun for the City of Toronto ... a new mayor, Rob Ford, will be sworn into office on December 1st. For an undecided voter like me, who hemmed and hawed about who to vote for especially when the field was narrowed down to three: Ford, Pantalone and Smitherman and who almost tossed a coin about my choices (ok, I'm kidding)I hesitated and went for the lesser evil. No, I'm not revealing who got my vote!

In any event, Toronto has four years of Rob Ford. But this might be the refreshing change that our City Hall needed. He says we --- yes, GTA residents --- can call him if we're not happy with his policies and he'll return our calls or even meet us at home. Not bad, eh? Personal service from His Worship, hey, I'll take that anytime.

So while his transition team preps City Hall for the Ford era and with Mr. Ford constantly talking about 'trimming the fat', a Toronto-based fitness company has offered free personal training to help His Worship shed those pounds.

His soon-to-be predecessor, David Miller, did it and now cuts a svelte figure. How about it, Mayor Ford? A healthy mayor for a healthy city!

Toronto elects Rob Ford as its next mayor

The vote count ended way before 9 p.m. and the people have spoken --- Rob Ford is Toronto's mayor-elect, the 64th to helm the city.

The Ford right-wing juggernaut couldn't be stopped and his message of cutting expenses and stopping the gravy train resonated with voters. Surrounded by family and friends at his west end home, Ford stood up when Toronto news station CP24 made the call and declared him the winner of a bruising race for City Hall.

George Smitherman, Ford's nearest rival, was gracious in defeat as he congratulated the new mayor. Joe Pantalone simply couldn't muster the support to propel him to the front lines and continuously trailed Ford and Smitherman. Calling democracy 'beautiful' the veteran councillor of 30 years who represented Trinity-Spadina (Ward 19) is now shut out of politics. Pantalone will stay in his council seat until November. 30.

Ford's win is a warning shot across the bow at Queen's Park and Premier Dalton McGuinty's government. McGuinty has been criticized as 'Premier Dad' for his social managing of the lives of Ontarians.

In any event, the 10-month race for Toronto mayor is over. For those who are into stats, here are the voting numbers: Ford captured 47.1% of the vote, Smitherman had 35.7% and Pantalone votes came in at 11.7%.

Declaring Toronto 'open for business' Ford will wear the mayoral mantle for the next four years.

May I say that I was pleasantly surprised at the voter turnout. I voted during the lunch hour and there was a queue of a dozen people at my polling station which increased as I left after casting my ballot. The indifferent voter was nowhere in sight. Torontonians care about their city.

Dancing with Toronto's next mayor

I had a good laugh over the Saturday Star's front page story showing mayoral hopefuls George Smitherman and Rob Ford in 'Dancing with the Stars' mode. Or was it a parody of 'So you think you can dance Canada'.

Not to forget Mr. Joe Pantalone whose picture was in the inside pages. He was smiling sheepishly like it was prom night!

I don't think it was a confusion on the Toronto Star's part with overlapping titles of these hit TV dance shows. But it sure added levity to a mayoral race that's down to the wire, photo finish, neck and neck and whatever else you may want to call it --- we sure need to laugh --- politics is and can be a dirty game with name calling and airing one's dirty laundry before the public --- so kudos to the Star for showing that these mayoral candidates can let their hair down --- uh, that is, if they have some hair left --- but forget all that --- it was fun and we all needed that especially on the eve of this all-important mayoral race in our fair city.

Which one will the voters bless?

A song from an old Hollywood movie set in Rome --- Three Coins in the Fountain is running in my head on the eve of Toronto's mayoral elections: which one will the fountain bless?

We really don't have something like the Fontana di Trevi in Rome so who will I bless with my vote?

A weighty decision to make as I cast my ballot for the next mayor of Toronto tomorrow. Or do I simply emulate what millions of tourists do in Rome as they stand before this beautiful fountain? I'll throw a coin over my shoulder and hope that the city gets the mayor it truly deserves. George Smitherman. Rob Ford. Joe Pantalone. Which one will the voters bless?

The anybody-but-Ford momentum

This afternoon I ran into a fellow tenant who voted in the advance poll for the Toronto mayorship and was forthright in saying that she voted for Smitherman to stop Ford. I mentioned that I was still in the 'undecided' category. So they seem to be out there --- 'they' being the voters who cast their vote for Smitherman to stop Ford from being the next mayor of Toronto.

Was it only a few weeks ago that George Smitherman declared that he was 'the man to beat' and is therefore leading the anybody-but-Ford movement. That was when polls showed that the Etobicoke councillor had a 24-percentage-point lead over Smitherman. The numbers served as a battlecry for 'Furious' George who (figuratively) donned boxing gloves and asked voters to rally around an anybody-but-Ford camp.

In an October 14 article putting Smitherman and Ford deadlocked in a sprint to the finish, the Globe and Mail cited voters gravitating around the former not because they're 'enamoured' with the former deputy premier but because of antipathy towards the latter.

Will this anybody-but-Ford momentum translate into votes for George Smitherman and the brass ring? We have a week to go and votes to count when polls close on October 25.

Rossi: the best mayor Toronto never had?

I read the National Post's Matt Gurney's take on Rocco Rossi saying that he hopes Toronto voters will see Rocco Rossi again. Gurney says Mr. Rossi was the best choice for mayor. Not having held public office coupled with a lack of name recognition, Gurney looks at Rossi as the best choice for mayor for his lack of baggage and the offer of a fresh start adding that 'God knows, Toronto could use that.'

Perhaps. But Rossi had the misfortune (if indeed one could call it that) of being in a race that according to Gurney has become defined with Ford's outrage (Stop the gravy train! cut expenses!) and the other candidates responding to it.

And, yes, there were the rather off-putting (to me, anyway) 'Goodfella' campaign ads. Gurney adds that with Rossi gone from the mayoral race he hopes that the former candidate sticks around with his new-found name recognition. Whoever wins Gurney believes that our city will find itself in desperate need need of a moderate mayor without the burden of an embarrassing (and that word again!) baggage. So, if Mr. Rossi spends the next four years networking and maybe even reminding the populace of his potential then he might just be the man to come to Toronto's rescue.

Is it too close to call?

Editorial cartoon from the Toronto Star's Patrick Corrigan

We're almost down to the wire --- E-Day--- Election Day on October 25. Rocco Rossi dropped out due to single-digit poll numbers 'conceding his ideas did not gain traction' with Toronto voters. Now it's a two-man race to the finish line and the ultimate prize: City Hall. An election update from the Toronto Sun says the Toronto mayoral race will be a photo finish.

Front runner Rob Ford and George Smitherman in a dead heat with 18.5 per cent of voters still undecided according to CTV News. Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone still hanging in there not wanting to call it quits.

The endorsements are coming in with the Toronto Star shining its light on George Smitherman, Justin Trudeau made no bones about choosing Smitherman and the Sun beams in on Ford. Joe Pantalone kicks in with a MoeJoe endorsement gathering at his Bloor St. E. headquarters.

It's an exciting race to the finish! And I'm still undecided ...

Coming in from the outside

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was part of the audience at CBC's Glenn Gould Studio on October 5 watching Toronto's mayoral hopefuls battle it on the podium. While waiting for the studio doors to open, Rocco Rossi schmoozed with the crowd. My initial impression was his height and approachable demeanour. I told him that I was blogging the mayoral race and he responded that he did not want to influence my opinion. I was open about my being undecided hence my presence at the debate.

Among all the mayoral candidates, Rossi has never held public office. I remember reading that he brought in Michael Ignatieff from Harvard which explains Rossi's Liberal credentials. Rossi managed John Tory's "near-miss" run for City Hall in 2003 and considers himself Tory's intellectual heir.



With virtually no name recognition, Rossi threw his hat into the mayoral ring and for a time had to deal with 'Rocco who?' questions. There's a historical handicap to his candidacy: no City Hall outsider has won Toronto's mayorship in the last 100 years. And the poll numbers seem to bear that out although Rossi cites his internal polling that he is gaining and coming in a strong second to Ford and Smitherman. Political pundits call it 'bocce balls' --- a throwback to the candidate's Italian ancestry.



Rossi has already cast his ballot in the advance polls. Now whether he'll be able to sway the anti-Ford segment of the population and the rest of Toronto as election day nears remains to be seen.

It ain't over until the Fat Lady sings.

The advance polls are open

Ah! the beauty of Democracy and the right to vote. If you're busy and can't make it on the day of the municipal elections --- October 25--- there are the advance polls and they're ready for you.


Since I live in Toronto I could either vote now or wait for election day itself. Or do I need more time to mull my choices over? I used to be a very decisive voter and took pride in that. And do I vote along party lines? It depends whether a candidate's message hits home and will he or she be the right one to run the city or country?

I must confess that I'm big on charisma --- the kind exuded by JFK or Pope John Paul II. That je ne sais quoi as the French call it. Nope! none of the Toronto mayoral candidates have it. So I continue to hem and haw. I may be undecided but that doesn't mean I won't vote.

If push comes to shove, the lobby of my building is transformed into a polling station. So on October 25 --- undecided or not --- I will exercise my civic duty and cast my vote. I'll probably wait until I return from work to do so and I hope to heaven that I make the right choice.

Thanksgiving Day reflections

This is my seventeenth Thanksgiving Day in Toronto. I arrived in late September 1991 giving up a flourishing communications career with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to live in Canada. I walked right into the economic downturn of the early 90s and thus started a Sisyphean struggle to get my career back on track.

These thoughts ran through my mind as I sat in the audience of the mayoral debate at the CBC's Glenn Gould Studio on October 5. The debate was an off-shoot of the Toronto Community Foundation's Vital Signs 2010 report. Who has a better (may I add brighter) vision of Toronto among the mayoral candidates?

Toronto has always taken pride in its diversity --- 'home to the world' --- the city fathers proclaim --- attracting the best and the brightest. But it is a known fact that many highly educated immigrants have fallen through the cracks in Canada's largest city. Stories of doctors driving cabs, working as security guards or delivering pizzas abound. It seemed to be the norm rather than the exception.


And that is why I was fortunate enough to escape the ignominy of career oblivion in 1996 by returning to the UN through an editorial posting in New York albeit a short-term one. Indeed I felt that my adopted city lacked vision in opening its arms to qualified and educated newcomers. How do we contribute if we are stonewalled from the get-go?



Did I find a mayor with a world view at the CBC Glenn Gould Studio debate? Someone who will think beyond potholes as beautifully expressed in Toronto Community Foundation's CEO Rahul Bharwaj's Open Letter.


A statesman with a vision for tomorrow. Have we found him yet?


I remember mentioning to Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone as he worked the crowd lining up in the CBC lobby before the debate began that I was an undecided voter. At the end of the debate, Mr. Pantalone saw me again and asked whether I was still neutral ... I am afraid so, Mr. Pantalone. I'm afraid so.

The indifferent voter

Toronto's municipal elections don't seem to catch fire with the electorate. What's up with that? The turnout is dismal at best or at worst --- depending on on which side of the equation you belong. There's a sense of disconnect among the city electorate.

Let's look at the new arrivals --- the soon-to-be Canadians --- with landed immigrant status. They (if interested in the election process at all) wait for three years before they're granted the right to vote. Might there be a sense of non-inclusion pervading this segment of our city's population?


The Toronto Star calls it the 39 per cent problem. In the Star article, a question was asked about how was a mayor elected. A lack of clarity of the voting process be it municipal, provincial or federal. Besides the lack of clarity there's a feeling of cynicism, indifference and frustration.

Toronto may trumpet its multiculturalism to the world but that might be the underlying factor why there is such a low voter turnout. Members of these ethno-cultural communities don't show up at the polls. Door-to-door campaigns and convincing our multicultural neighbours that every vote counts fall on deaf ears.



I have voted in every election since became a Canadian citizen in 1995. I have volunteered in mayoral and federal election campaigns and worked for Elections Canada.

But that's me. I want to have my voice heard through the ballot box.

Big poll numbers don't a winner make

Some candidates may be dismissive of polls and declare that the only polls that matter are the votes on election day. Should we believe these polls giving frontrunner status to candidates and declaring them the winner even before the votes are cast?

Rob Ford is the perceived frontrunner in the 2010 Toronto mayoral race. Notice I used the word 'perceived'. What does this mean? And does this make Ford the runaway winner? In the 2006 mayoral elections, Barbara Hall had a big lead over her opponents. But voters switched to David Miller whom they chose as the viable candidate and gave him the mayoral mantle.

But wai!t there's a Global News Ipsos Reid survey showing George Smitherman cutting into Ford's lead with the former leading winning by 48% in a 'hypothetical matchup' against Ford's 45% of voters' support. And this was in late September almost a full month before the October 25 Toronto mayoral elections --- that could be a lifetime in politics!

So if it goes down to the wire, who will be Toronto's next mayor?

This will be a nail-biter of an election and who will the gods bless to lead our fair city in the next four years?

As the pundits say, it's too close to call.

Sarah Thompson throws in the towel

Sarah Thompson has climbed down from the mayoral fight --- unbloodied and unbowed. After all that speculation, poll numbers that never went beyond single digits, a campaign that lacked gravitas, Sarah Thompson ends her bid for the Toronto mayorship and throws her support behind 'Furious' George Smitherman. Trying to stop the Ford juggernaut, Thompson says that electing Rob Ford would be the 'worst thing for the city'.

With Thompson out of the race, will there be an 'anyone but Ford' heckuva bruising sprint towards City Hall? Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone isn't following in Ms. Thompson's footsteps declaring that the only time he'll drop out of the race is after serving eight years as mayor. He's been endorsed by Ed Broadbent, Jack Layton and Layton's wife, Olivia Chow. Will these endorsements add wind to Pantalone's sails? We'll have to wait and see.

And what's Ford take on Sarah Thompson's move to the Smitherman camp? The frontrunner wished his now-former rival well although professing that he didn't understand 'what Sarah was doing'.

Be that as it may, the playing field for Toronto mayor has been narrowed down to four. And like in the jungle, it's the fittest who survive.

Suddenly I'm an undecided voter

Don't get me wrong. I enjoy exercising my fundamental right as a Canadian citizen to vote for my chosen candidate. But as election day for Toronto's mayoral races looms ahead I am in a quandary as who to vote for. As an informed voter, I watch candidates' debates, keep tabs on the issues and make a decision even before I cast my ballot. However I seem to be in an indifferent mood as to the choices this time around.



Rob Ford. He's all been but declared the winner. It's all over but the counting and he's Toronto's next mayor. Should I believe the forecasts? For some strange reason, he doesn't sit well with me. Is it his bluster? He's been called a buffoon but with the caveat that he shouldn't be underestimated. Too much bluster? And what about those scandals: drugs, alleged assault on his wife although what politician is as pure as the driven snow? If I feel uncertain about Ford being the next mayor of Toronto, perhaps I should listen to my intuition and scratch him off my list.



George Smitherman. I live in his riding: Toronto Centre and he was my MPP. What gives me pause in voting for him? One word: eHealth! That shadow still hangs over him and will be synonymous with his name the way Watergate will always be connected with Richard Nixon. So he doesn't get my vote.

Sarah Thompson. From one woman to another, she should be getting my vote. Somehow her message fails to resonate with voters and she's trailing in the polls. And there are (unconfirmed) reports that she might drop out of the race to stop a Ford onslaught. Better luck next time, Sarah.




Joe Pantalone. Granted that he served as deputy mayor and knows the internal workings of City Hall which probably gives him an edge over his rivals. He seems to be the greenest of the candidates and advocates a green urban landscape. I'll file him under 'I'll think about it' but still find him uninspiring.



Rocco Rossi. I read his bio, his links with Ignatieff and fundraising successes. He's considered an outsider by some since he's never held public office. Hilarious attempts to show his 'goodfella' side with campaign ads. He might provide comic relief at City Hall. But I'm still not sure whether he'll get my vote.

It's a survival of the fittest. Who'll remain in the political ring as election day approaches? That said I might have to toss a coin. Heads or tails?

Ok, so Rob Ford is not the anti-Christ

Got a kick out of Thomas Walkom's column in the Toronto Star debunking claims that Mr. Ford is NOT the anti-Christ and that his critics should get a grip. So, Rob Ford is not the dreaded anti-Christ --- thank heaven for that! --- and simply a right winger from Etobicoke who wants to be Toronto mayor.

And that's supposed to calm my misgivings about Ford taking the reins at City Hall. Notwithstanding Giorgio Mammoliti's change of heart and endorsement of Ford I'll remain undecided until election day.

The election pot may be filled to overflowing with all these candidates running for Toronto mayor but I'm hard pressed to find anyone inspiring among the lot. In the end there only might be two remaining candidates slogging it out on October 25: Ford and Smitherman.

Anti-Christ or not I'd have to mull things over very carefully and see whose name I'll check on the ballot come election day.

Is she or isn't she?

Sarah Thompson isn't about to wear Hamlet's cloak and deliver a soliloquy --- should I or shouldn't I remain in the Toronto mayoralty races? A dilemma for sure since her poll numbers are weak to say the least. Her campaign office says she's still running for the top City Hall post. There seems to be a slight hesitation that she might throw her support around Rocco Rossi whose odds of winning are iffy at best. In this brew of let's-stop-Rob Ford-at-all costs, is it a game of musical chairs in who'll endorse who as soon as I see the writing on the wall? Ms. Thompson's campaign hasn't caught fire since she threw her hat in the mayoral ring. She calls herself a 'visionary' but her message seems to have all been drowned out by Rob Ford's "I'm going to cut spending"speeches. The latter has scored well with the electorate and is credited for Ford's surge in the polls. With the municipal elections a month away, what is a candidate to do whose numbers are simply not there? Wait, consult, throw her support around another candidate? Not an easy decision. But who said politics was easy?

Running after the Toronto mayoralty candidates

Let the collective groans begin. The polls have it. If the Toronto elections for mayor were held today, Rob Ford would win over 'Furious' George Smitherman. The others --- Joe Pantalone, Rocco Rossi and Sarah Thompson --- bite the dust.