Municipal Elections in Canada

[J.OT13]

Cities in four provinces and one territory will be holding municipal elections this year (2022). That is BC, Manitoba, Ontario PEI and NWT. Who's running? Who's looking for a promotion (Councillor trying for the Mayor's chair)? Who's stepping down? What are the issues?

In Ottawa, Jim Watson who has been Mayor since 2010, and 1997-2000 prior to that (total of 15 years, longest serving Mayor in the City's history), will not be running this year.

This leaves the field open for Catherine McKenney (they), the downtown Councillor that often criticizes Watson's controlling way of governing, Bob Chiarelli, the 80-year old former Mayor (2000-2006) who was defeated on the basis of his north-south light-rail that would have clogged downtown streets, and Mark Sutcliff a local entrepreneur and journalist who is running in the name of change, but seems to be carrying a lot of Watson's policies and allies with him.

Interested of knowing what kind of candidates are running in other municipalities around Canada and what sort of policies they bring to the table.

[thurmas]

Winnipeg will be electing a new mayor as Brian Bowman is not running again. Main candidates are former mayor Glen Murray, St James councilor Scott Gillingham a moderate red tory progressive conservative and Jenny Motkaluk a hard right reform party type of politician. Main area of concern is crime and infrastructure.

[SignalHillHiker]

Not sure when our next elections are but current Mayor Danny Breen has strongly hinted he will run for leadership of the provincial Progressive Conservatives. The current Deputy Mayor, Sheilagh O’Leary, has also run provincially in the past (I believe NDP?). Both are status quo, treading water type leaders - though council has made great strides in recent years (things such as removing minimum parking requirements, etc.)

Among the councillors, our best currently is Maggie Burton who is confident, informed, active on social media, engaged with constituents, and a true urbanist. We also have trans activist Ophelia Ravencroft, who is a strong voice for the working class in the downtown, and on social justice issues generally.

Most of the rest are business owners in it for their bottom line.

Main issue here from an urbanist perspective is insurance. St. John’s treats everything like it’s NYC so we can’t afford much. Guaranteed there’s one office Karen responsible for insurance. Mayor has even made a public plea for insurance companies to treat us as other cities our size instead of a world capital. I think it’s self-inflicted. Opening a sidewalk seating area here costs thousands in insurance. Our pedestrian mall costs hundreds of thousands in insurance/security because it’s classified as an “event” as opposed to just infrastructure. Where other cities have a gate that can be opened/removed to allow traffic, we have security guards. It’s truly insanity.

[Hawrylyshyn]

Andrea Horwath is rumored to run for mayor of Hamilton after stepping down from being the NDP provincial leader for a long time

[ScreamingViking]

Hamilton will have a new mayor. Fred Eisenberger will not be running again (he's been mayor since 2014, and was also in the role between 2006 and 2010).

So far, the only people nominated are:
Keanin Loomis, former president and CEO of the local chamber of commerce
Ejaz Butt, taxi driver and former head of the taxi drivers’ union
Bob Bratina, former radio personality and commentator on Ticat and Argo game broadcasts, city councillor (2004-2010), mayor (2010-2014), and Liberal MP (2015-2021)

Loomis is the youngest and probably represents the most progressive option, and I think he has the best handle on the city's current issues and future potential. Butt ran in 2014 but only got about 1,500 votes (he caught the attention of Jimmy Kimmel). Bratina is known for being temperamental and having outbursts (once threw a pen during a council meeting; accused of losing his cool on other occasions) and has strong opinions against LRT (over which he declined to run again as an MP after the federal Liberals committed funding); I think he's too out of touch to be mayor again, but if the voter turnout leans toward the older residents he may garner substantial numbers.

Potential candidates include Andrea Horwath, former Ontario NDP leader, who was a city councillor prior to being an MPP... whether she runs has been an open speculation, and she has yet to say no.


Top local issues:
LRT, yet again
Growth: suburban expansion, intensification, redevelopment (including industrial/commercial); affordable housing is a related big one too
Political integrity and accountability (several scandals have plagued local government the past few years, and council has had a lot of dysfunction)


There will be change around the council table as well -- at least 4 of 15 incumbents are not running, and a few have yet to register.

[thurmas]

The Winnipeg Fire and Paramedics union just endorsed Glen Murray today which is a very powerful endorsment as they supported Heather Stefanson in her PC party leadership campaign last year to become premier and they helped elect Sam Katz as mayor back in the 2000s.

[ShavedParmesanCheese]

In Hamilton, there will be a major change in local government this October. The deadline to register is in August, and already a number of people have come forward and launched campaigns for every office. The goal of the electorate this year seems to be to remove the long-term councillors, some of which have been in the job up to and over 20 years. There is widespread discontent towards the council in seemingly every respect of what they do (or don't) on the job.

The Mayor, Fred Eisenberger (2006-2010/2014-2022) has opted not to run for re-election. Big names already confirmed are;

Keanin Loomis - Former head of the Chamber of Commerce, he's wasted no time in establishing a platform and campaign.

Bob Bratina - Former Liberal MP, Councillor, and Mayor. Unpopular in each job.

There is a lot of speculation as to if former provincial NDP leader Andrea Horwath will run for mayor. Thrice-defeated for the premiership, she resigned as leader after this past election.

Big issues on the public's mind this year thankfully extend to more than just the LRT line. There are a number of broad one-way streets in the lower city, that along with other dangerous thoroughfares to the pedestrian across the city, have become a prominent issue to the public. After 11 pedestrian deaths in 6 months, the city council voted to convert the 5-lane, single-way racetrack of Main Street to two ways. How that (and any other dangerous streets) will look after conversion, however, remains to be determined after this election.

[Blitz]

London will have a new mayor as Ed Holder is retiring partly due to health problems. He served one term. Windsor mayor Drew Dilkens hasn't filed papers yet but I suspect will be running for a third term.

[north 42]

Originally Posted by Blitz

London will have a new mayor as Ed Holder is retiring partly due to health problems. He served one term. Windsor mayor Drew Dilkens hasn't filed papers yet but I suspect will be running for a third term.

I’m upset that Rino Bortolin won’t be running again for ward 3 in Windsor, he was one of only a few very progressive councillors.

[Djeffery]

As said, London's mayor isn't running for re-election. Ed Holder (former CPC MP and cabinet minister) will be the third one-term (or less in the case of Joe Fontana) mayor in London in a row. So far, one city councillor has made the jump to that race, Josh Morgan, who has been a councillor for 2 terms. Former Liberal MPP Khalil Ramal is the only other candidate with any type of profile in the race so far.

[Loco101]

Timmins will have a new mayor. Our last mayor George Pirie just stepped down as he was elected our MPP and is now Minister of Mines for Ontario.

Some possible mayoral candidates are former NDP MPP Gilles Bisson who was recently defeated but more likely is Kristin Murray who is currently a city councillor in Timmins and the first black and Indigenous one here.

[Truenorth00]

Urbanist Gil Penalosa has announced his intention to challenge John Tory in Toronto. It's a dream to have someone like that. But a long shot given that it's Toronto....

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

Urbanist Gil Penalosa has announced his intention to challenge John Tory in Toronto. It's a dream to have someone like that. But a long shot given that it's Toronto....

Will gladly vote against Tory.

[ShavedParmesanCheese]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

Urbanist Gil Penalosa has announced his intention to challenge John Tory in Toronto. It's a dream to have someone like that. But a long shot given that it's Toronto....

Never heard the name, what's he in favour of?

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by ShavedParmesanCheese

Never heard the name, what's he in favour of?

More dedicated transit lanes. Higher building limits best transit. Lower speed limits near schools and parks. Cancelling the Gardiner rebuild.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toron...-run-1.6520827


He's one of the founders of 8 80 cities, a global urban advocacy group that pushes for public infrastructure that makes cities livable for all ages (8 to 80). Here's one of his TED City talks:

• Video Link

[JHikka]

Liberal MP Sukh Dhaliwal (Surrey--Newton) will be running for mayor of Surrey. Dhaliwal has won election in 2008, 2015, 2019, and 2021.

https://twitter.com/JanetBrown980/st...83801715822593

[JHikka]

Andrea Horwath to announce Hamilton mayoral bid
Teviah Moro
July 25, 2022

She will announce her campaign Tuesday morning in a news conference across from city hall.

So far, Keanin Loomis, the former CEO of the local chamber of commerce, and Bob Bratina, an ex-Liberal MP and mayor, are the two main contenders.

With a win, Horwath would return to her political roots, having served as a city councillor in Ward 2 for seven years starting in 1997.

In 2004, she made the leap to Queen’s Park and became NDP leader in 2009.

https://www.thestar.com/ths/news/mun...ayor-race.html

[niwell]

I interviewed for Gil 15 years ago or so, for a position at 8 80 Cities. Didn't get the job but he does seem like a very dedicated and sharp individual. Haven't put too much thought into it yet but he'd likely get my vote. Much better than Keesmaat last time round IMO.

Don't necessarily agree with cancelling the Gardiner at this stage in the project - nor do I want a 10 lane "urban boulevard" but the need for change supersedes that.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Andrea Horwath to announce Hamilton mayoral bid
Teviah Moro
July 25, 2022

She will announce her campaign Tuesday morning in a news conference across from city hall.

So far, Keanin Loomis, the former CEO of the local chamber of commerce, and Bob Bratina, an ex-Liberal MP and mayor, are the two main contenders.

With a win, Horwath would return to her political roots, having served as a city councillor in Ward 2 for seven years starting in 1997.

In 2004, she made the leap to Queen’s Park and became NDP leader in 2009.

https://www.thestar.com/ths/news/mun...ayor-race.html

Really annoys me when politicians do that. She just won her seat at Queenspark for the 4th time, but now wants to jump ships and run for mayor. Stepping down as NDP leader was the right move for sure, but she still just now made another 4 year commitment to serve as MPP.

The last 4 years, Ottawa had 4 by elections because of BS like this. Nussbaum won his second term on Council and a month later stepped down to become CEO of the National Capital Commission. Marie-France Lalonde won her seat at Queenspark and stepped down a year later to run federally, which prompted Stephen Blais to run for her seat after serving one year of his third term on Council. Nathalie Desrosiers completed a little under a year of her second term as MPP to take some as principal at Massey College in Toronto (so not only left her post as MPP for Ottawa-Vanier, but left the city entirely for some cushy job). Another Ottawa Councillor left their post to take a job as MP at the Federal level, but she was replaced through appointment.

Props to Kathleen Wynne, Stephen Harper, Andrew Sheer and any other politician who, even though their Party lost the election and had to step down as leader, at least completed their last term in office as MP(P).

[JHikka]

Patrick Brown is doing similar, sheepishly running for mayor of Brampton again after being ejected from the CPC race.