Will they synergize the governments?

The municipal election in Toronto, Mississauga and Brampton were special in some common ways as the mayoral candidates there were trying to make a mark for themselves. For some it was a revival of political fortunes while others were looking at getting a stamp of approval of their major political decisions and seeking a discourse for their career.

Peter Brown who got elected as the Mayor of Brampton was attempting to revive his political career. Having relinquished his post of party leader of the Progressive Conservative party in January, it was important for him to re establish his connect with voters specially after his dramatic resignations in January amid allegations that he has vehemently denied. At the province level, Doug Ford assumed the charge of the party leader and brought the PC party back to form the government at Ontario. Many political pundits gave a “curtains down” call for Patrick Brown and didn’t find much role for him in politics.  However, a determined Brown ran a campaign over a short period of time to become chair of Peel region. Patrick Brown who represented the riding of Barrie both municipally and federally recently moved to Brampton with his newly wedded wife. Contesting against Linda Jeffrey who had also managed her first victory in the municipal elections in the last contest, was not considered an easy task.  Linda Jeffrey a former Liberal cabinet minister, who had the support of high-profile politicians from major parties and was carrying a strong record of her work starting from the time she became the Mayor of Brampton in 2014, having defeated the then incumbent Susan Fennell and prior to that she was MPP from 2004 to 2014 representing Brampton Centre and the former riding of Brampton Springdale. And to defeat such a strong candidate in a short period of less than two months, it speaks of the connect that Patrick Brown has been able to establish with the voters. He in his own way has given a given a boost to his political career and would be expected that he lets his career grow with the works he gets done in Brampton. The election was equally important for the incumbent Mayor Linda Jeffrey who had moved to the municipal elections only in the last elections, despite having done remarkable work couldn’t find favour of the voters.

John Troy has won a second consecutive term as mayor of Toronto. Tory defeated former chief city planner Jennifer Keesmaat. John Tory too had lot at stake. He too had moved from the provincial politics to the municipal elections having served as the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario and was the member of the Provincial Council representing the riding of Dufferin-Peel-Wellington-Grey from 2005 to 2007. In 2014, when he contested for the mayor of Toronto he had defeated Doug Ford who now is the Premier of Ontario. In a way, this election was important for him to get a stamp of approval for the work he that done and reassuring himself and his party that the move to shift from provincial politics to municipal politics. Another important candidate hailed from the region of Mississauga. Bonnie Crombie. With ample experience as Member of parliament 2008 for the riding of Mississauga-Streetsville and having served in Stephan Dion’s Liberal caucus as co-chair for outreach along with Justin Trudeau. She too moved to the municipal elections after she lost to Conservative candidate Brad Butt in 2011 federal elections. In September 2011, she got elected to the Mississauga City Council in a by-election and winning the 2018 election was important for her and she managed it with a smart margin.

With these three and Dipika Damerla and Jim Kargiyannis who too carry ample experience of provincial and federal politics, the councils can now boost of added strength through experience, and they would be expected to make use to their skill to ensure that all three levels of governments can work for the best interest of the residents.