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.

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.