[Skeezix]

With a gun to my head, Di Georgio and Burnside.

*washes self*

I tend to lean the same way. Robinson is just so awful - and profoundly incompetent. DiGiorgio and Nunziata are more of a toss-up - they are equally stupid, but Nunziata seems to have the larger ego.

 

[WislaHD]

I tend to lean the same way. Robinson is just so awful - and profoundly incompetent.

She is not incompetent at all. She knows exactly what she is doing.

Playing NIMBY Queen and staying aligned with Mayor Tory for committee positions, and guess what, her constituents love her for it.

 

[ShonTron]

Peruzza and Ford could also split the vote, and if not, campaign resources. Peruzza has deep ties to the NDP (he was a former MPP and his ex-EA Tom Rakocevic is now MPP for the area) and has also had endorsements from the Toronto Labour Council in previous campaigns.

MM, I agree that Tiffany's biggest asset is her last name. See Russ Ford's miracle run in Etobicoke Lakeshore last election, where his last name almost defeated Grimey.

Both Peruzza and Rakocevic were former assistants to Maria Augimeri, also an NDPer. I think Augimeri's time is up. Pasternak might not be especially popular, but neither is Augimeri, who barely survived in 2010 (she did better in 2014).

Before, I figured that Louise Russo registering for Ward 9 would have made for a stronger challenge than flawed candidate Gus Cusimano; Russo would certainly have had Tory's support. I wonder if she will still run - Pasternak has been a reliable Tory vote, if not a inner circle ally.

 

[King of Kensington]

Maria Augimeri seems like an odd remnant given the "Ford Conservative" swing among Italian Canadians.

 

[christiesplits]

Maria Augimeri seems like an odd remnant given the "Ford Conservative" swing among Italian Canadians.

There was a sizeable Ontario NDP Italian caucus during the Rae years. Tony Rizzo, Tony Silipo, Perruzza, Rosario Marchese, and some backbencher named Giorgio Mammoliti. Marchese was the last to hang on from the Rae Days, while Peruzza and Augimeri carry on the tradition.

 

[Skeezix]

She is not incompetent at all. She knows exactly what she is doing.

Playing NIMBY Queen and staying aligned with Mayor Tory for committee positions, and guess what, her constituents love her for it.

But I don't think she even plays NIMBY Queen well. She mishandled the whole John Fisher fiasco - according to my friend who lives nearby, half the ratepayers/parents involved in that one walked away quite disenchanted with her. And even as a Tory stalwart, her VisionZero efforts are not helping her - she's a joke to anyone who actually cares about road safety, and her efforts are an annoyance to people who only care about cars.

 

[King of Kensington]

There was a sizeable Ontario NDP Italian caucus during the Rae years. Tony Rizzo, Tony Silipo, Perruzza, Rosario Marchese, and some backbencher named Giorgio Mammoliti. Marchese was the last to hang on from the Rae Days, while Peruzza and Augimeri carry on the tradition.

Indeed. During the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s there was a notable Italian New Democrat contingent in northwest Toronto. Yet in the last election the NDP came in third in the Italian homeowner sections of Eglinton-Lawrence, York South-Weston, York Centre and HBRC (the NDP won in the big apartment neighborhoods around Weston-Mount Dennis, Jane-Finch etc.) Meanwhile, two Italian Canadian Liberals, Mike Colle and Laura Albanese, saw their voting bases bleed to Ford and the Conservatives.

The Italian community has moved to the right. Woodbridge had the lowest NDP vote share in all of Ontario. And even with Del Duca getting the "strategic vote" he was still crushed by Michael Tibollo in the last election who got over 50% of the vote.

 

[toaster29]

Justin DiCiano's chief of staff Mary Campbell is running in Ward 3 against DiCiano's buddy Grimes.

 

[adma]

Indeed. During the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s there was a notable Italian New Democrat contingent in northwest Toronto. Yet in the last election the NDP came in third in the Italian homeowner sections of Eglinton-Lawrence, York South-Weston, York Centre and HBRC (the NDP won in the big apartment neighborhoods around Weston-Mount Dennis, Jane-Finch etc.) Meanwhile, two Italian Canadian Liberals, Mike Colle and Laura Albanese, saw their voting bases bleed to Ford and the Conservatives.

The Italian community has moved to the right. Woodbridge had the lowest NDP vote share in all of Ontario. And even with Del Duca getting the "strategic vote" he was still crushed by Michael Tibollo in the last election who got over 50% of the vote.

In a way, the likes of Augimeri are to the Italian demo what Howard Moscoe was to the Jewish demo--an artifact from a more authentically left-congenial era...

 

[King of Kensington]

Bathurst and Lawrence is a pretty much an Orthodox Jewish area now.

 

[Avenue]

I'm under the impression that the Beaches outcome will come down to whoever promises to remove the Woodbine bike lanes the hardest.

 

[WislaHD]

Brad Bradford is running in the Beaches now too, I saw.

I would rather he wins than any of the others running. He is an urban planner.

 

[Avenue]

He's Keesmaat's buddy but I see Beaches voting for Tory anyway so I'm not sure if that endorsement is going to help.

 

[Filip]

I'm under the impression that the Beaches outcome will come down to whoever promises to remove the Woodbine bike lanes the hardest.

My boyfriend lives in the Beaches and is pretty active in the community.

There are howls for blood because of these bike lanes. I was pretty surprised given the quinoa and granola crowd there.

 

[WislaHD]

He's also endorsed by Mary Margaret McMahon, which concerns me given her centre-right voting record.

For me, that sounds like a positive, but to each their own.