As the race to become the next mayor of Toronto approaches the end, it is apparent how gutless the left wing supporters of Mayor David Miller are. These lefties are abandoning whatever principles they have to run to the George Smitherman camp in an attempt to stop the front runner; penny pincher Rob Ford.
Councillor Joe Mihevc announced that he was supporting the former Liberal cabinet minister much to the shock and horror of his fellow traveller, mayoral candidate Joe Pantalone.
The only shocking thing about this move is that at his age and with his over 30 years experience holding elective office, Pantalone was shocked. What makes Mihevic stand out is not that his endorsement of Furious George was unique; he just happened to be the first far left councillor seeking reelection to dump fellow socialist Pantalone to support and hug Smitherman. Other councillors are sure to follow. By supporting Smitherman, they will be supporting the only candidate who, if elected, will make them part of his inner circle.
This is a good illustration of how the left really don’t care about the poor, the homeless, the underworked and overpaid brothers and sisters of the city’s unions, the people of colour or the gays, lesbians and transgendered. It’s all about them; it’s all about power; it’s all about who’s going to get a cushy position on the next city council. That is the only thing that explains why someone like Joe Mihevc is supporting a wishy washy ex-Liberal cabinet minister over his good friend, Pantalone.
The other reason why those on the left are abandoning their principles is “fear”. This fact, not totally unrelated to the first, was best illustrated by former mayoral candidate Sarah Thompson. She dropped out after the cut-off date because she was “scared” that Rob Ford would end up being mayor. While there is no physical resemblance between Ford and Thompson’s shadow, she seems afraid of both. It’s one thing to say that you don’t agree with Ford’s vision (or lack thereof) of Toronto; it’s quite another to drop out of a race while your name is still on the ballot out of fear.
It’s just as well that Thompson dropped out. She lacked the political experience to be the mayor of Canada’s largest city although she and fellow major candidate Rocco Rossi clearly think experience has nothing to do with the job. One of Thompson’s major policies was to put toll roads on the city’s major expressways. If that was such a good idea, David Miller and the gang would have done it years ago.
There are a lot of people to whom the $10 around trip would be a lot of money. Thompson and her ilk don’t care about that. In order to avoid the toll, arterial roads running parallel to the city would be gridlocked to a greater extent than they are now. Neighbourhoods would essentially be destroyed. But to Sarah Thompson, people don’t matter. It was all about making herself feel good and when it became she wasn’t anywhere close to winning, she ran off. Considering Thompson and Rossi, who wants to put a Spadina expressway underground, as major candidates made turned what should be a serious election into a joke.
To those who hold serious beliefs about how this city is run, there are only two choices; Rob Ford or Joe Pantalone. Ford will reduce spending while Panatalone will spend whatever it takes to implement his policies.
It’s tempting to feel sorry for Pantalone who must have been sick the day they were teaching that power is more important than principle.
