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Mike Layton has scheduled an event (dubbed "A Toast to Trinity-Spadina and the City of Toronto") on March 5 and indicated that he has news to share.
Ward 27 is turning into a bit of a mess - it seems like everyone's running.
Yup ten candidates, and with September seven months away the list is bound to grow.It would be interesting to see how the vote might split and the victor getting elected with like 20% or something.
Mammoliti's seat isn't far behind with seven hopefuls.
Also it seems that the defeated Nippissing PC '07 provincial candidate is running against Perks in ward 14.
Kristyn Wong-Tam is having her campaign launch tonight.
Also, Michael Layton announced that he is running in Ward 19.
I will be there at KWT's party tonight. Oakham House 55 Gould Street at 6pm. If anyone is going let me know, and come and say hi to me if you like.
I've known Kristyn for years and she is a kick-ass activist and advocate.
I ended up going as well. It was a good event. Lots of young people, a diverse crowd, certainly lots of excitement. Adam Vaughan was there to introduce her.
TheEtobian, no...the Bill Vrebosch who's running against Gord Perks in Ward 14 isn't the same Bill Vrebosch who is the mayor of East Ferris and ran against Monique Smith in '07. He is the other Bill Vrebosch's son, however.
Oh okay, it seemed like such a coincidence with the name and all. It seems that there are three of them running, Dad again in East Ferris, Bill junior in PDHP 14 and daughter for council in North Bay. There all have one website and it states the all run on the same principles, so it would appear that indeed it is the same Vrebosch .Oh yeah and check this out matching orange signs http://www.votevrebosch.com/
The ward 27 list of candidates is now up to 12! Meanwhile in South Etobicoke, Peter Milczyn is currently the only candidate in ward 5, while in my neck of the woods in ward 6 incumbent Mark Grimes has still not registered. There seems to be a few wards with no challenger. I certainly hope that at this point in time the second decade of the twenty first century there will be no acclamations in this race.
My councillor, Joe Mihevc, is running unopposed so far.
I recently heard some disturbing news, that Alejandra Bravo has decided not to run again in Ward 17 against Cesar Palacio. Instead, she apparently plans to run as a school board trustee in Ward 9. This is terrible news! Alejandra is a great candidate. She speaks fluent Spanish, Portugese and I think Italian and she is a rising star in the NDP, which desperately needs strong ethnocultural candidates to loosen the near Liberal monopoly on the Toronto ethnic vote. She came so close last time, losing to Palacio by less than 200 votes. The only reason she didn't pull it off is that David Miller refused to put his machine behind her, for fear of alienating the awful Palacio who occasionally votes with the progressives on Council and is not quite in the Rob Ford/Denzil Minnan Wong camp, though he often straddles their line. Joe Mihevc did lend some of his labour machine support in the form of a seconded OPSEU organizer, but it wasn't nearly enough. I think she would have been a shoo-in next time around, especially if the public sector union machine forgets the mayoral race this time around and devotes all their resources into electing more progressives to council so that Smitherman can be kept in line. Alejandra would be an amazing addition to Toronto City Council.
What's especially puzzling is her decision to run in School Board Ward 9 against Maria Rodrigues, who is a solid NDPer, even if she's not the hardest working trustee out there. Still, she always votes the progressive line and often leads the good fight at the Board. She's nowhere near as good as Alejandra but it seems such a waste to knock off one progressive for another.
Anybody heard about this? Is there still a chance to talk some sense into Alejandra?
Sounds like a smart move, actually. It's not going to be the best election for progressives and being a school trustee is a great place to start for next time.
Anyone know what's going on in Ward 19? Mike Layton seems to have the NDP brass lining up behind him, but there is also a progressive Chinese Canadian candidate, Karen Sun, who announced first. Could we be in for another Tam Goossen vs. Helen Kennedy type situation?
In a word NO. There is no comparison. Tam Goosen had a big following in the NDP and was backed by a lot of people in the NDP and there was that very divisive nomination battle etc...and there was a third person like Adam Vaughan benefitting from the situation. My impression is that Karen Sun doesn't have nearly the following that Tam Goosen had, the Chinese population in ward 19 is almost non-existent (they are much more concentrated in ward 20). She also (as far as i know) has no ties at all to the NDP and may even be a Liberal so whatever support she gets will be from the usual big "L" Liberals.
Ward 19 has quite a large Chinese population, actually. I think the Chinese and Portuguese communities in Ward 19 are now about the same size.
Also, I really don't think Karen Sun is a Liberal. Most of her supporters are NDPers as far as I can tell, and she also attended the launch from Kristyn Wong-Tam who is is the de facto NDP candidate in Ward 27.
Adam Vaughan seems to have moved closer to the NDP as well. He supported Cathy Crowe in the byelection, and was there to introduce Kristyn.
I looked up the demos of that ward. Its interesting that while pantalone has been the councillor there for so many years - only 2% of the ward residents speak Italian. A little over 10% speak Portuguese and a little under 10% speaks some Chinese language - but the overwhelming majority are anglos.
I guess that what will be interesting in Ward 19 is whether the local Liberals try to set someone up to run who has ties to Smitherman and to the Ianno clan or whether they just sit this one out.
Little Italy is only about 10% Italian I think. It's about as Italian as the (very touristy) Little Italy in Manhattan.
The Portuguese community is centered further west now, more in Davenport than Trinity (i.e. Dovercourt to Lansdowne).
And Chinatown has sort of pushed past the Bathurst St. border into the area where the signs on Dundas say "Portugal Village" but there are as many Chinese businesses (and residents) as Portuguese.
My view so far on Ward 19 is that unless it can be demonstrated that Mike Layton is a vastly superior and/or more progressive candidate - I prioritize increasing diversity on Council than supporting the choice of the NDP machine.
I don't think this is about anyone being the "choice of the NDP machine". I only wish that the NDP actually had a "machine" - it would imply having vastly more volunteers and members than we have. What do you thikn this is Tammany Hall or Mayor Daley's Chicago in the 60s?
I'll support who I know and who I think has good qualifications etc...Mike Layton has done a lot of good work with the environmental movement and has done a lot of good work at Environmental Defence. I don't know the other candidates, but all things being equal I will back the person I know over the person I don't (of course I don't live in the ward so I can only offer moral support). Another consideration for me would be who will try to work in tandem with Rosario Marchese and Olivia Chow to keep Trinity-Spadina in NDP hands at all levels as opposed to being "neutral" or even being pro-Liberal.
My point is given that there really isn't a party system in Toronto - whether or not someone is a card-carrying member of the NDP or not matters little to me.
What's the likelihood of an "official" NDPer running against Adam Vaughan now?
Highly, highly unlikely.
While there are no "official" parties in Toronto, there are unofficial secrets and its common knowledge that Smitherman is trying to get people with big "L" Liberal ties to run everywhere who will then do his bidding if he becomes mayor. I don't blame him, if I were him I'd do the same. Coming to a neighbourhood near you will likely be people who give the appearance of being progressive but who will give Smitherman the votes he needs to go wild privatizing public services etc... caveat emptor
Funny how Karen Sun is supporting Kristyn Wong-Tam, who is running against Smitherman's aide Ken Chan in Ward 27. Clever man Smitherman, getting his own candidates to pretend they support his rivals.
Who said anything about Karen Sun? I know nothing about her. But I wouldn't be surprised if someone runs in Ward 19 who is there to be a stalking horse for Smitherman and the Liberals - I don't think that person is a candidate yet - but I'm sure someone will be there - its just a matter of time.
Is no one interested in Toronto elections now that NDP'ers first pick Giambrone has self-destructed?
Here are links to how many are running in various wards and who:
http://meslin.wordpress.com/
http://app.toronto.ca/vote2010/index.jsp
... and about Karen Sun: http://www.karensun.ca/
and the bountiful other ward 19 candidates: http://ward19.ca/ (Himy Syed), http://www.mikelayton.ca/ (heir apparent?),
Hot races beginning everywhere.....
Giambrone has announced he will not be running for re-election to city council but he may run federally or provincially in the future. I think he can rehabilitate himself and return to politics in four or five years (if he can show he's grown up and changed) and that it's wise of him to leave the arena for a time. If he tries to come back too soon though he'll just face a rehash of this year's scandal.
Yeah, and apparently his executive assistant will run in his ward instead.
Yes, Giambrone's executive assistant is preparing to run in Davenport. As some may recall, his assistant is the one who had to finish reading the speech that Giambrone was unable to cope with.
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/torontomayoralrace/article/794264--giamb...
Gimabrone's decision to quit municipal politics is the best decision he has made so far this year. He has been involved in an unending series of controversies, and has become almost as much of an embarrassment to his party as Helena Guergis is to hers.
The page of his statement had been mistakenly left on the printer. That's why he didn't finish it.
Isn't having an aide/assistant run in your place pretty normal in the way of things?