Ward 5 Candidates Speak - 1

The southern end of Mississauga-Brampton South get to vote for a City Council by-election in September.

MIRANET, Mississauga News & Rogers Cable 10 brought over 20 of the 27 candidates together for a televised forum earlier this week. The forum will be rebroadcast repeatedly in the coming days (see schedule here).

I just finished watching the candidates' opening speeches. Each candidate was allocated 3 minutes to talk directly to the camera. For me, this was exciting. Throughout most of Europe, parties are allocated free time to broadcast advertisements one after the other. So, these speeches were like a little taste of Europe in my Mississauga basement. All that was missing was some brie and chablis.

The event drew little press coverage (see here, here, and here). Most of the coverage focused on three big names in the race, Peter Adams, Bonnie Crombie and Carolyn Parrish, and none of the reporters said anything about the taped speeches. So, I thought I would watch and comment...

Its not going to be an easy choice for many in the Ward 5. Many candidates echoed the same issues, the same concerns and made similar promises. What I was looking for was whether any candidates could come up with a clear reason why people should vote for him/her. Canadian Political Strategist Geoff Norquay calls this a "ballot question". In a crowded race like this one, I think its a critical one. There has to be something distinctive that sets a candidate apart from his/her competition. Something that will allow voters to succinctly explain to their peers who they are voting for and why.

Academic digression:
This tendency to construct or desire a set of reasons to facillitate a difficult choice was identified by academics studying decision-making in a range of different contexts. Shafir, Simonson and Tversky call "Reason based choice" in a seminal paper.

I sat through every single three minute speech and was dutifully unimpressed. There were few good new ideas or policy proposals floated. Candidates promised to be accessible, reliable and trustworthy. I'm not suggesting these are not valuable traits. After all, eight years ago, the Ward 5 councilor went to jail for bribery. So, three big cheers that no candidate publicly signaled that their vote could be bought. <snore>

Every candidate stressed uncontroversial valence issues that no one would argue against (We need more efficient government! We need more health and social services in Malton! We need to get tough on gangs!). Most talked about their qualifications and personal backgrounds. Thats a great, low-risk strategy, but with more than 20 opponents, I'm not sure its a very smart strategy except for those candidates with the highest profile in the Ward.

Ok... So voters can choose from candidates who emphasize cutting taxes or those who emphasize increasing services. Most of these candidates called for more services and less taxes which may be impossible unless they find gold while widening Eglinton Ave. Voters can choose between fresh faces or experienced politicians, independent voices or buddies of the mayor. And lets not forget that some candidates live in the Ward 5, some candidates are visible minorities, some are women and a few speak foreign language(s).

It would have been a better evening if my wife had agreed to join me in a drinking game whenever a candidate mentioned the Goreway Bridge or the new community health centre in Malton. She didn't. Pity, but I'm not sure we have enough wine or beer in the house to accomodate all of the drinking we would have had to do.

I was impressed with Dianne Douglas, Eve Adams' executive assistant while she was councilor. I was not alone- Gerry Timbers called her the winner of the race.
Douglas' speech was well-practiced, smoothly delivered and did a great job recognizing that the needs of Malton were quite different than the needs of the Heartland area. She clearly came off as someone who understands the area. That leaves me with two questions:

1. Why doesn't Douglas have a website? I would link to it. Promise.
2. What does it say about a candidate if your former boss' husband runs against you? Or, perhaps the appropriate question is: what does it say about your former boss' husband if you decide to take a leave of absence from your job to run against him?

Some quick judgments and questions (again, just based on the candidate speeches):

• It took Peter Adams less than 15 seconds to mention his wife's name and remind everyone that they live in the Ward.
• Bonnie Crombie was surprisingly negative towards her opponents considering she says she has a positive vision and promises to refrain from the infighting that supposedly has plagued Mississauga City Council in recent years. She says she "plays on the mayor's team," which tells me that the only infighting she disapproves of is the criticism that occasionally gets directed at Mayor Hazel McCallion. 
• How angry and bitter is Kulvinder Bobbie Daid? Do the voters in Ward 5 share her angst?
• Jake Dheer's cheerful on-camera presence was a sharp contrast to Daid's anger, but who originated the line about traffic taking away from family time? Because Mark Cashin said the exact same line.
• There are jobs and there are the jobs that Jamie Dookin promises to bring to the community. Funny how the number of jobs always ends in a multiple of ten.
• Why does Grant Isaac need to secure his glasses with a string while he sits in front of  TV camera? Isaac was surprisingly unprepared and unscripted for his three-minute talk. What kind of law does he practice?
• I'm not sure I want any elected official to promise that I'll know in advance how they will vote on major issues, Olive Rose Steele! After all, those votes take place after debates, after amendments to a bill are proposed, and after votes are traded and negotiated over. Declaring in advance what you'll do could render you both close-minded and ineffective.
• Did Barbara Hazel Tabuno get tips on delivery from Elle Woods?
• I expected the novice candidates to have trouble speaking to the cameras. But Rick Williams is an experienced, elected politician. Could you look up once in awhile?
• Cecil Young was the last to speak, and surprisingly, brought up issues and proposals that no one else did. That is not easy to do after more than 20 other speeches. Snaps for Mr. Young!