[GraphicMatt]

It's not a surprise, really, but it does indicate to me that it's unlikely we'll see Miller and/or Vaughan jump in the race. It'd look sloppy to have Layton publicly endorse Pantalone and then two weeks later have Pantalone drop out for Miller.

 

[King of Kensington]

It's interesting to see that Miller retains a good deal of popularity. Really speaks volumes about how repugnant a candidate Smitherman is. Supposedly he was that sort of "socially liberal/fiscally conservative" that everyone wants.

If Smitherman cared so much about Toronto, he would be fighting the decision of the McGuinty government to renege on Transit City, not defending it. It's pretty clear he would be the OLP mole at City Hall, not a genuine advocate for Toronto.

 

[js97]

It's interesting to see that Miller retains a good deal of popularity. Really speaks volumes about how repugnant a candidate Smitherman is. Supposedly he was that sort of "socially liberal/fiscally conservative" that everyone wants.

There has been nothing fiscally conservative about what Smitherman represents and what he has accomplished as an MPP.

E-health, 'Green Energy Act'. nothing.

 

[King of Kensington]

Yes - Smitherman blasting the Millerites for being "fiscally irresponsible" is akin to people in glass houses throwing stones.

Mayoral candidate George Smitherman came down to City Hall Monday to tell outgoing Mayor David Miller and city council to stop going down a "bucket list" of items before they "kick the bucket" in the lead-up to this fall's election.

Smitherman made the pronouncement on the steps of City Hall while Miller and his executive committee met inside.

"After seven years under this administration, there seems to be a sudden rush of big-ticket, big-money items council would like to get out the door before they kick the bucket," Smitherman said in a campaign press release. "I'm calling for the mayor and council to put off the major spending decisions that will tie the hands of the next council and get in the way of the change Toronto needs."

Describing next week's city council meeting as an "orgy of last-minute activity," Smitherman accused Miller and council of rushing through items they've failed to deal with in the last seven years or they are dealing with now because it is politically important.

http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2010/08/16/15039736.html

 

[Coltaine79]

Not a single story about the election in today's STAR front page (web site version).

Wonder what that means.

Guess they've stopped covering it since the front-runner no longer "talks to them"? haha

 

[GraphicMatt]

Full details of the Miller-related parts of the recent poll:

If Mr. Miller did enter the race, Ipsos pollster John Wright said, he would win “handily,” likely gaining support at the expense of George Smitherman and in some suburban areas, Mr. Ford.

“It appears that a lot of people would rather have what they know than what they don’t,” Mr. Wright said.



Read more: http://news.nationalpost.com/2010/0...=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter#ixzz0xZKQbznR

 

[adma]

Yes, it's likely Ford is appealing to many of the "fed up with everything"-type voters that went NDP in 1990!

That's actually an excellent point--though in all fairness, Bob Rae came across much more plausibly as a "premier figure". Were the NDP led by someone like Peter Kormos, the Ford analogy would be clearer (and no, that's not meant as a slur on Kormos).

 

[PinkLucy]

For those who may not have seen this elsewhere:

On Monday, August 30th, Heritage Toronto and the Toronto Historical Association will host a public mayoral debate at St. Lawrence Hall to discuss the state of heritage in Toronto in 2010. The debate will be moderated by former Chief Planner for the City of Toronto, and Adjunct Professor of City Planning at the University of Toronto and Ryerson University, Paul Bedford.

Heritage Toronto and the Toronto Historical Association have run a series of community consultations throughout the city which will result in a report of what Torontonians see as significant issues relating to heritage preservation. The information collected through the consultations and public input will be used to develop a heritage report card, with key issues being raised at the debate. The report card will also be accessible to the public and media in the fall.

Issues raised so far at the consultations include a lack of: staff resources and funding that the City provides toward heritage conservation; understanding and education of our decision makers and senior levels of municipal and provincial government on the heritage designation process and; sufficient tools, such as strong protective statements in the City's Official Plan that will ensure heritage conservation is caught early in the development process.

Candidates that have been confirmed for the event include Rocco Achampong, Rob Ford, Joe Pantalone, Rocco Rossi, George Smitherman and Sarah Thomson.

The debate will take place on Monday, August 30th at 7:00pm at St Lawrence Hall, 3rd floor in the Great Hall at 157 King Street East (at Jarvis).

The debate and report has been made possible through the support of the McLean Foundation and the Howard and Carole Tanenbaum Family Charitable Foundation.

 

[androiduk]

.

 

[adma]

Okay, don't tell me. A Duceppe hairnet moment

 

[MetroMan]

John Tory to endorse Sarah Thomson (?)

I've posted this and removed it a couple of times, after receiving conflicting information from two reliable sources. I decided to repost and let you be the judge.

The first source tells me that John Tory will endorse Sarah Thomson after Labour Day. This isn't all that surprising considering both his sons are on her campaign.

Then, a second source told me he will absolutely not do it and as "proof", Tory will be moderating upcoming debates. That would prove quite a conflict of interest.

So, I decided to post this since it will be a very important development if it happens, even though I can't quite choose which source to believe.

Such an endorsement would send Sarah Thomson right to the top of the polls I'd imagine.

 

[nfitz]

Such an endorsement would send Sarah Thomson right to the top of the polls I'd imagine.

It would be an interesting development ... but I'd be surprised if it would send her to the top of the polls. Ford is the only other Conservative candidate, so it would leach some of his support; but given how bigoted and racist some of his support is, I'd think some would still stick with him. Might put her up to 20% maybe ...

 

[MetroMan]

Here's the thing. The kind of people who would support Tory, are those who are behind Rossi and to a certain extent pledging to vote for Smitherman. Considering the amount of pre-emtive support Tory had even though he wasn't running, I'm pretty sure Thomson would become the defacto Ford challenger.

Now, I'm a Millerite and even I would support Thomson if she became a viable candidate. I like that she's a woman and can help build consensus on council and end a lot of the infighting -- look at Hazel, women just have a better ability to make everybody play nice. She also has some very ambitious plans and makes no qualms about proposing real solutions, that many people are in denial that we need to use, such as tolls.

I'd be comfortable with the status quo, where Miller's Toronto was heading to so Pantalone would be ok with me, but I want a candidate to energize this city and I think Thomson can do that.

The campaign begins in earnest next week and I think Thomson has the ability to garner much of the undecided votes and steal support from Rossi and Smitherman. I think she can win this.

 

[TonyV]

^ Metroman, I hope (and pray) that you're not just blue-skying. A strong endoresement from Tory may hugely sway the vote for Thomson.

I, too, would vote for Miller again if he decided to run - but I highly doubt that Miller will do that.

I've become an ABF type (Anyone But Ford) and hence have sided with the apparent strongest candidate other than Ford.

I like your scenario.

 

[MetroMan]

Whatever " blue-skying" is, I'm not doing it

The person who told me this has been nearly spot on with all her predictions and she's in the Tory camp. I ran right to Urban Toronto and posted the info but then I talked about it to another Tory insider which led me to delete the original post. They said it wouldn't happen because of his position as an impartial radio host and more importantly as an election debate moderator. All points to him supporting Sarah Thomson and endorsing her amongst friends but what the second source told me leads me to believe that he'll keep it out of the media because of the aforementioned conflicts of interest.