Two things that did Olivia in. The Scarborough Subway and Scarbough itself.
If you aksed the people of Scarborough which you perferred? LRT that costs tax-payers only $1 or Subway that would increase property taxes 10%. They would still choose a 10% raise in property taxes!
That is how Scarborough is. No matter what the cost, they want a subway. Ironic given they also want taxes low, but that is how Scarberians are thinking.
The minute she supported LRT (which I support as well) she lost Scarborough to both Ford & Tory.
The second thing is her election headquarters. It was smack dab in Toronto. If she wanted to reach out to the suburbs she should of had it in a very visible location in Scarborough.
So central and visible in Scarborough that commuters would see it everyday to and from work.
With a few exceptions, all of the door knocking, canvassing and announcements where in DT Toronto.
Because of that it gave suburban voters the impression she only cared about DT folks. Which is why almost all her support where in those DT wards.
She hardly did anything to reach out to those other communities.
There was one letter to the editor at Now Magazine that sums up her lack of attention to the suburbs
On the day Olivia Chow announced her candidacy for mayor, I talked to a member of her campaign team and sent this piece of advice: do not open your campaign office south of Highway 401. You own downtown; send a signal that you think the suburbs count. I was told politely to shove it. Any politician who pretends there are more votes in the old city of Toronto than the suburbs is doomed.
Adam Berel Wetstein
North York
