Dechert last man standing in Mississauga Erindale
By: Julia Le
October 15, 2008 02:52 AM - The race was neck and neck between the Liberals and Conservatives in Mississauga Erindale, but it was Tory candidate Bob Dechert who crossed the finish line to claim the victory.
More than 100 of his supporters crowded into Coopers Pub on Burnhamthorpe Rd. W. to watch the race Tuesday night on five large TVs.
They were on the edge of their seats as they chanted and cheered in anticipation as the votes see-sawed back and forth. By night's end, their candidate won by a 239-vote margin over Liberal incumbent Omar Alghabra, reversing the 2006 outcome.
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Guarnieri now the longest-serving MP
City Councillor Frank Dale congratulates Liberal MP Albina Guarnieri last night at the Texas Longhorn restaurant after she was declared the winner in the Mississauga East-Cooksville riding. With her victory, Guarnieri, becomes the longest serving MP. Photo by Steven Der-Garabedian
By: Julie Slack
October 15, 2008 02:46 AM - One long-time Liberal supporter says Albina Guarnieri's easy ride to victory in Mississauga East-Cooksville is a testament to her character since she first won her seat as MP in 1988.
Guarnieri, 55, easily sailed to victory and was declared victorious by many media outlets by 10:15 p.m.
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Exhausted MP savours narrow victory
By: Louie Rosella
October 15, 2008 02:36 AM - Lake Ontario may be blue, but the majority of Mississauga South is seeing red this evening.
Liberal incumbent MP Paul Szabo was elected to serve a sixth term in the riding. He led Conservative candidate Hugh Arrison by almost 2,000 votes, with 211 of the 229 polls in the riding having reported.
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Khan betrayed our trust, says Crombie
Defeated Mississauga Streetsville Conservative MP Wajid Khan is consoled by his supporters at the Portugese Cultural Centre after losing to Liberal Bonnie Crombie. Photo by Daniel Ho.
By: The Mississauga News
October 15, 2008 02:03 AM - A victorious Bonnie Crombie said last night that she is delighted to serve the people of Mississauga Streetsville, but disappointed that her Liberal party did not do very well.
"At the same time, the Harper Conservatives haven't won a majority either and it makes you wonder why they called the election at all," said the 48-year-old MP elect.
With all polls reported, Crombie took 21,579 votes (45 per cent), ahead of Conservative Wajid Khan's total of 16,946 (36 per cent).
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Victory at long last for Dechert
By: John Stewart
October 15, 2008 02:15 AM - One self-appointed Conservative was defeated.
One persistent Tory was finally elected.
Mississauga Streetsville MP Wajid Khan — who crossed the floor to join Stephen Harper's Conservatives — paid the price in the federal election last night while three-time Tory candidate Bob Dechert made the breakthrough in Mississauga Erindale.
The Liberals retained the other four ridings in the city but not always in the decisive style they have come to expect.
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Red sea parted
By: The Mississauga News
October 15, 2008 02:12 AM - Who will speak for Ontario residents?
That has to be the question on the minds of Ontario and, in particular, Mississauga citizens in the wake of last night’s federal election.
With another Conservative minority government elected, and the GTA awash in a wave of Liberal red, the prospects for local federal initiatives don’t look good.
In Mississauga, the once mighty red sea parted to allow a trickle of (elected) blue.
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Veteran MP Malhi survives a scare
Bramalea-Gore-Malton MP Gurbax Malhi talks to his faithful followers at the Woodbine Banquet Hall. Photo by Peter McCusker.
By: Chris Clay
October 15, 2008 01:46 AM - There were more than a few tense moments for Gurbax Malhi supporters on election night.
Malhi, the Liberal incumbent in the riding of Bramalea-Gore-Malton, was expected by many pundits to stroll to his sixth consecutive term as MP. However, when the results from the first few polls were announced, Malhi was trailing Conservative Party candidate Stella Ambler by a fair margin.
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Szabo back for a sixth term
By: Louie Rosella
October 15, 2008 12:05 AM - Incumbent Mississauga South MP Paul Szabo has been re-elected to serve a sixth term in his riding.
By 11:40 p.m., with 195 of 229 polls reporting, the 60-year-old Szabo was beating Conservative candidate Hugh Arrison by more than 1,700 votes.
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Streetsville voters can Khan
By: The Mississauga News
October 14, 2008 11:28 PM - "I accept the decision of the people."
That's what defeated Conservative candidate Wajid Khan told reporters tonight when asked if he thought his decision to cross the floor had cost him his job as MP for Mississauga Streetsville.
Khan arrived at a sombre scene at his headquarters at the Portuguese Cultural Club of Streetsville after absorbing a punishing defeat at the hands of first-time Liberal candidate Bonnie Crombie, who had a lead of 4,000 votes and was declared the victor by many media outlets shortly after 10:30 p.m.
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Guarnieri, Bains re-elected
By: The Mississauga News
October 14, 2008 - Liberal incumbents Albina Guarnieri and Navdeep Bains have been declared winners in their bid for re-election tonight, but races in some of Mississauga's other ridings are too close to call.
Guarnieri will extend her domination of the riding of Mississauga East-Cooksville which she first won in 1988. At the time when she was the only representative of her party in Mississauga. Since then, Liberals have won every contest.
Guarnieri took an early lead and was declared a victor by several media outlets at about 10:15 p.m. She wasn't so sure herself, however, and was waiting for confirmation before heading to her victory party at the Texas Long Horn restaurant.
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Mississauga-Erindale residents want the down low on "green shift"
The Credit Valley Ratepayers Association sponsored a federal all-candidates meeting for the Mississauga-Erindale riding at St. Rose of Lima School last night. Here, Liberal incumbent Omar Alghabra listens as Conservative candidate Bob Dechert answers a question. Staff photo by Rob Beintema.
By Julia Le
October 9, 2008 - More than 100 community members turned out for an all-candidates debate at St. Rose of Lima School Tuesday night in the Mississauga-Erindale riding.
The audience kept the four candidates on their toes, with hard-hitting questions about the Liberal carbon "green shift" plan, the economy and Canada's role in Afghanistan.
Hosted by the Credit Valley Ratepayers` Association, the debate had about a dozen community members lined up to ask candidates questions, including one resident who was applauded for asking for a direct explanation of the Liberal carbon 'green shift' plan and how it would affect gas prices.
NDP candidate Mustafa Rizvi said the plan, in reality, is a tax on middle class and low-income families that will have them paying higher prices for gas while Conservative candidate Bob Dechert said that with the struggling economy, he believes the carbon tax won't work.
"In a place like Mississauga, you don't really have a choice, do you? You have to get your car and feed your family and until we come up with better alternatives, raising gas prices isn't going to work," said Dechert, who is running against Liberal incumbent Omar Alghabra for the second time. "Can any of you reduce your overall energy consumption by 25 per cent in your houses and cars? Because that's what the green shift plan requires and if you can't, you pay more.
"I doubt very many people in Mississauga will achieve that position and that's what people need to think about here."
But while Rizvi, Dechert and Green party candidate Richard Pietro agreed that gas prices would rise, Alghabra argued the "green shift" plan would not put a tax on gas.
"Don't take the Liberal platform from the Conservatives," said Alghabra, adding he wishes the Conservatives would talk more about their own plan rather than distorting the Liberal's.
He said 200 economists wrote in the Ottawa Citizen that the plan is the right thing for the economy at this time.
"You can fear monger all you want," said Alghabra, but encouraged residents to visit the green shift website, which he said explains how the plan will cut income taxes and give the money back to the people.
Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada candidate Dagmar Sullivan intended to participate in the debate, however she pulled out earlier in the afternoon because of a scheduling conflict.
The Mississauga-Erindale candidates are expected to duke it out in another all-candidates debate on Thursday at the University of Toronto Mississauga's South Building, hosted by the UTM student union ay at 6 p.m.
Tempers flare at Mississauga South debate
Liberal incumbent Paul Szabo and Conservative challenger Hugh Arrison exchanged verbal barbs last night at the all-candidates debate for Mississauga South at the Cawthra Seniors Centre. The Liberals, Conservatives, Greens and the NDP were all represented. Photo by Daniel Ho.
By Louie Rosella
October 6, 2008 09:59 PM - An all-candidates debate at a Lakeview seniors centre turned nasty last night (Monday, Oct. 6) as the participants sparred verbally over the economy, Canada's relationship with the United States and accountability.
The four candidates, all vying for the Mississauga South seat in next week's federal election, took off their proverbial gloves last night at the Cawthra Seniors Centre on Cawthra Rd., where more than 75 people turned out to watch.
At one point, as Liberal incumbent Paul Szabo was lambasting Stephen Harper's relationship with George Bush, Conservative candidate Hugh Arrison attempted to stop Szabo by grabbing the microphone away.
Jim Tovey, president of the Lakeview Ratepayers' Association, had to remind the candidates to stop slighting each other.
"These people came to hear your views, not to hear you insult each other," he said.
Arrison drew a strong reaction when he claimed that Prime Minister Harper has repeatedly stood up to Bush on a variety of issues, including the environment.
"It is unconscionable for you to sit here and say that Stephen Harper stood up to George Bush," Szabo charged. "What we're seeing is the Americanization of Canada because of Mr. Harper's relationship with George Bush."
NDP candidate Matt Turner, 19, the youngest of the bunch, also accused Arrison's party of "plagiarizing" Bush.
"All the policies (the Conservative government) have in Canada are American/Republican policies, and they don't work," Turner said.
Arrison went on the offensive to say that the worst thing that could happen to an already-struggling Canadian economy is another tax. And that, he saqud, is exactly the Liberals have in mind in the form of a carbon tax.
Liberal Leader Stephane Dion's carbon "green shift" plan would levy $15.4 billion in new taxes on Canadian industries that produce high carbon emissions.
"A carbon tax now is really like pouring gasoline on a fire in the economy," Arrison said, adding that seniors would likely be most affected.
Arrison reminded the audience that despite the weak economy, the Conservative government continues to keep the federal budget in surplus.
"Mr. Harper has delivered more in two years that Mr. Dion or Mr. Szabo has delivered in 15 years," Arrison said, referring to Szabo's time spent in office.
But, Turner then attacked Arrison for "gloating" about the surplus.
"All it means is that you're cutting in education, infrastructure and other things," he said.
Green Party candidate Richard Laushway said more money needs to be invested into the municipalities. His party is pledging that one cent of the GST will go back to cities and towns for public transit and other needs.
"No other party has done that," he said. "Citizens would gladly take the bus if it was more frequent and more convenient and right now, in Mississauga, it isn't."
On a question about accountability, Szabo blasted the Conservative government for breaking their promise of fixed election dates.
"Mr. Harper hasn't been accountable." he said.
All four candidates will debate the issues again Thursday night (Oct. 9) at Clarke Hall in Port Credit.
lrosella@mississauga.net
MPPs urge federal voters to push for fairness
Local MPP Peter Fonseca, along with (from left) Harinder Takhar, Amrit
Mangat and Bob Delaney, urged voters to make fair treatment for Ontario
a top issue in the federal election.
By: Julia Le
October 4, 2008 09:25 AM - Five Mississauga MPPs want residents to make fairness for Ontario a top issue in the Oct. 14 federal election.
Bob Delaney, Peter Fonseca, Amrit Mangat, Charles Sousa and Harinder Takhar urged Mississauga voters to put pressure on candidates and party leaders to address areas where Ontario is being treated unfairly.
"Ottawa has taken Ontario and Ontario's taxpayers for granted. The time has come, however, for us to stand up together and say loudly and clearly, 'Enough,'" said Fonseca, the MPP for Mississauga-East Cooksville, in front of Trillium Health Centre yesterday.
This province, he says, generates all the wealth that it needs to excel in the global economy, but a disproportionate share is being distributed outside of Ontario by Ottawa.
"Twenty billion tax dollars go to other provinces every year to cut their taxes and to invest in their programs," said Fonseca. "We're not asking other provinces for their money. What we are simply asking for is the right to keep more of the wealth generated by Ontarians for Ontarians."
Delaney, who represents Mississauga-Streetsville, shared the same sentiments.
"We're 13 million people in Ontario, 700,000 in Mississauga, 1.25 million in Peel. Our economic units in Peel and Mississauga are bigger than some entire provinces," he said. "Give us the same per capita allocation ..."
The unfairness can be seen in Ontario's healthcare system, adds Mangat.
"Ontario families have been shortchanged by $773 million a year in healthcare," said the Mississauga-Brampton South MPP, noting there are long wait times at Trillium Health Centre, Credit Valley Hospital and Brampton Civic Hospital.
The federal government, she said, announced last year that it will address Ontario's needs by 2014 or 2015. "This means (they) recognize the inequity, but still have decided to delay it for six years."
Sousa, the first-term MPP for Mississauga South, spoke about employment insurance. He said laid-off workers in Ontario get $4,600 less in EI than if they lived in another part of Canada.
The MPPs hope Ontarians can unite, like they have, to have their voices heard. To sign a petition calling for fairness, visit www.fairness.ca.
jle@mississauga.net
Wrong address on voter cards leaves electors scrambling
There was nobody home for voters who ventured out to vote Saturday at an advance poll in Mississauga.
Cathy Moore and her 86-year-old mother, Violet Daley, went to vote at the address given on the back of their voter identification card, but the address was wrong.
"Our cards said 3461 Dixie Rd. but it was actually 3415 (Dixie Rd.)," said Moore, a TTC employee.
She scrambled to find the right location, at the other end of High Point Mall at Dixie Rd. and Bloor St.
Moore was one of about 8,000 people in the Mississauga East-Cooksville riding who received the wrong address.
Peel Regional Police, who have an office at 3461 Dixie Rd., fielded inquiries about the booth. "About four people came thinking it was here," said Const. John Cook. Officers directed them to the right location.
"There was a mistake in the card," said Nathalie de Montigny, a spokesperson for Elections Canada. "It is unfortunate, but as soon as the staff (at the booth) found out in the morning, they put out signage to help people find their way."
It isn't clear how the wrong address was printed on the information card, she said.
But the address wasn't the only problem at the booth on Saturday. When Moore and her mother arrived at about 12:30 p.m., a long line awaited them. There was no place for seniors to sit while they waited to vote but lots of confusion and frustrated voters, she said.
"Most of the people were seniors and I think it was unfair that they had to stand for so long," Moore said, adding there were at least 35 people waiting to vote.
Moore was also shocked that the voting booth, with at least an eight-person staff, was in the mall lobby and, except for a screen on one side, there was no privacy.
"I've never seen anything like this before," she said. "It was so disorganized."
De Montigny said the two-by-three-metre screen was specially ordered to give voters privacy.
New election procedures, like producing a valid piece of identification, led to the line-up, she said.
More ethnic candidates jump into election fray
By: The Mississauga News
September 26, 2008 12:26 PM - The significant number of Indian-Canadian candidates in the federal election, especially in Peel Region, hasn't escaped the attention of political pundits who keep track of such trends.
A story at sulekha.com, whose motto is "connecting Indians worldwide" notes that Canada's Parliament could gain a number of new Indian-Canadian MPs in the Oct. 14 election.
The Conservative government is fielding 10 candidates with ties to India, the Liberals six and the NDP 14.
Gurbax Malhi, the MP for Bramalea-Gore-Malton, who was elected in 1993 and became the first MP ever to wear a turban in the House of Commons, is the dean of the eight serving Indo-Canadian members.
Malhi, "is expected to win for the sixth time" says sulekha.com. One of his opponents, Jaswant Singh Puniya of the NDP, also has roots in India.
Navdeep Bains and Ruby Dhalla (who lives in Mississauga) "are likely to have a cakewalk in their Punjabi-dominant constituencies of Brampton-Springdale and Mississauga-Brampton South just outside Toronto," says the website.
Melissa Bhagat, who is running for the Conservatives in Mississauga East-Cooksville against 20-year veteran Liberal Albina Guarnieri is "another glamorous Indian-Canadian in the fray" according to sulekha.com. Bhagat, 32, was Miss Canada-India and is the former host of the popular OMNI TV show Bollywood Boulevard.
New suburban ridings in the GTA offer immigrants more opportunities for success, because political ambitions and machines are not so entrenched as in older Toronto ridings, Myer Siemiatycki, a professor at Ryerson University, told The Globe and Mail.
Many Indian-Canadians who are members of the Sikh religion live in Mississauga and Brampton, where they make up 15 per cent and 19 per cent of the population.
"The Sikhs are united and know they have to be politically active to defend their interests," Siemiatycki said. "The black and Chinese communities are more internally diverse and divided."
Immigration policies are often significant for South Asians, since are trying to bring family members and relatives here for visits or to begin a new life in Canada.
jstewart@mississauga.net
Crombie calls out Khan over floor crossing
By: Gary McCarthy
Staff photo by Fred Loek
Liberal candidate Bonnie Crombie waves a picture in the air during a heated exchange with Conservative incumbent Wajid Khan (right).
September 23, 2008 11:54 PM - It's the one political race in Mississauga that all eyes across Canada will be focused on when the election results start pouring in on Oct. 14.
That's because everyone knows the story of Wajid Khan — the former Pakistani air force captain who, while sitting as a Liberal in Parliament, became a Middle East advisor to Prime Minister Stephen Harper — and then crossed the floor to join the Conservatives.
Khan’s Liberal opponent in the federal election campaign, Bonnie Crombie, didn’t let the Tory candidate off the hook over the issue when the two met face-to-face today during the taping of a series of television debates organized by the Mississauga Board of Trade and RogersTV.
Khan said he decided to change parties because he felt he had an obligation to his constituents, but his Liberal opponent said he conveniently turned his back on the voters in Mississauga-Streetsville.
Khan, seeking to win the riding for a third term but running for the first time as a Conservative, said it was a tough decision but a necessary one when he left the Liberals to join the Conservatives in January 2007.
“I went to Ottawa to do a job,” said Khan, who first won the riding as a Liberal in 2004 and retained the seat by almost 6,000 votes over Conservative candidate Raminder Gill in 2006.
“I had an obligation to do a job for my constituents and my country,” said Khan, who admits he has had to address the issue several times during door-to-door campaigning.
Crombie immediately attacked Khan for duping the voters and creating cynicism. And every time Khan attacked the Liberals, Crombie asked: “Weren’t you a member of that party?”
Khan called Liberal leader Stephane Dion weak and accused the Liberals of sitting on their hands and doing nothing while Harper “delivered on his promises of lowering taxes and keeping you safe.”
That’s when Crombie produced a photo taken during the Liberal leadership campaign. She held it up for the television cameras and then held it up to Khan. It shows Kahn standing next to Dion. Khan backed Dion in the race while Crombie supported Michael Ignatieff.
“I’m not going to betray the voters,” said Crombie. “I’m a Liberal of conviction, not convenience.”
She said she is in favor of legislation that would force byelections to determine whether a sitting member could join another party.
It was the only lively debate among the six held over two days.
Apart from a brief set-to between Liberal incumbent Omar Alghabra and Conservative Bob Dechert in Mississauga Erindale, the debates produced nothing more than candidates sticking to party lines.
The Dechert-Alghabra confrontation fizzled almost as fast as it started over Alghabra’s decision to side with his Liberal colleagues and abstain from voting in a couple of non-confidence motions in the last Parliament.
Otherwise, it was the same information repeated over and over. The Conservatives boasted of keeping promises on cutting taxes, becoming tougher on crime, delivering money to municipalities for infrastructure and helping seniors by allowing split income.
Liberal candidates ridiculed the Conservatives for squandering a $14 billion surplus built up under Liberal rule, defended Dion’s carbon tax proposal, vowed to put the economy back on track and create affordable housing.
New Democratic Party candidates in three of the Mississauga ridings did not even take part in the debates. Missing were Keith Pinto from Mississauga-Streetsville, Jashwant Puniya in Bramalea Gore Malton and Satish Balasunderam in Mississauga East Cooksville.
For a full listing of when the debates can be seen go to www.rogerstv.com and click on the link Vote 2008.
mississauganews@live.com
Federal candidates vow to take Peel's fight to Ottawa
By: Radhika Panjwani
September 22, 2008 03:28 PM - Peel Regional councillors issued a call to arms to federal candidates running in Peel — demanding they fight for much-needed funding from Ottawa.
At an information session at Regional headquarters today, Ward 6 Councillor Carolyn Parrish presented the candidates with a litany of problems threatening the Region.
The region's wish list included a larger slice of the GST, measures to fight poverty, reforms to immigration, creative approach to housing and the same access to benefits as the rest of the country.
Parrish said she wanted the nine elected MPs from Peel to doggedly pursue Peel's interests in Ottawa and present a strong and united front.
"Eighty per cent of people live in large cities and I think it's time that we got more attention than we're getting," said Parrish, who heads the Region's government relations committee. "The difficulty is that things like infrastructure is really our responsibility and because the feds don't pass enough money to Ontario and to us, we're getting a bit to the crisis stage."
Peel politicians said their request for an additional one cent of every dollar collected by Ottawa in taxes to be diverted to municipalities is reasonable, especially in respect to Peel which is home to 1.2 million residents and is experiencing high population growth.
The Region currently receives eight cents of every tax dollar collected in Canada to provide a growing list of services such as social housing, long-term care, Regional roads, and waste management.
Parrish said more than 27,000 new immigrants flock to Peel each year in search of a better quality of life, but are often forced into a cycle of poverty and unemployment as a result of Ottawa's flawed immigration policy.
The municipal politicians bombarded the candidates with hard-hitting facts and statistics to support their claims and offered a set of initiatives they could take up with Ottawa.
"The needs of the Region are greater than those identified,” said Regional Chair Emil Kolb. “There's about $122 billion of capital money that needs to be invested into infrastructure over the next decade. It can't be done overnight, but we would like to have a sustainable funding ..."
Parrish handed each of the candidates a questionnaire and warned them against spewing the standard party response.
“We don't want them to handle the questions in a mechanical way,” said Parrish, who was instrumental in designing the questionnaire. “We're asking for commitment from individuals rather than their party positions, so we can hold their feet to the fire.”
New Democrat Jash Puniya, who's running in Bramlea-Gore-Malton, and Richard Laushway, Green Party candidate for Mississauga South, said the meeting provided them an opportunity to acclimatize themselves to core issues facing Peel.
"This session will help my job easier," said Mississauga-Erindale incumbent Omar Alghabra. "I have been fighting with Ottawa ever since I was elected to ensure our voices are heard and that the federal government plays an important role in helping our city and our Region."
Mississauga-Streetsville MP Wajid Khan, Peel's lone Conservative, said he has been successful in delivering $95 million for Brampton and $83 million for Mississauga for public transit.
"This is my Region and I'll do whatever I can to assist (its needs)," he promised.
rpanjwani@mississauga.net
Justice minister tackles Violent Crime Act
By: The Mississauga News
September 22, 2008 09:46 AM - Canada's justice minister told a rally in Mississauga yesterday that a Conservative government will turn all votes on anti-crime legislation into votes of confidence — which means Canadians could be facing yet another election in the near future.
"We're making it very clear about how serious we are about getting that anti-crime agenda through Parliament," Rob Nicholson said yesterday in Mississauga, according to a story by The Canadian Press.
"We will be taking a zero-tolerance approach. Our crime measures will be confidence measures, we are determined that our law and order agenda will be passed."
The Niagara Falls MP said Prime Minister Stephen Harper has already made it clear that no more "obstruction" of the government's law and order legislation, entitled the Tackling Violent Crime Act omnibus bill, will be accepted by the government.
A tougher stance on law and order issues is a key plank in the Conservative agenda, and one the party believes sets it apart from its opponents.
Nicholson dismissed calls for a ban on handguns that has been proposed by Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and Toronto Mayor David Miller, among others.
Most handguns and pistols are owned by ordinary citizens and they aren't the problem, Nicholson suggested.
"I think the problem in this country is people who steal guns and people who use them for improper purposes," he said. "It's not sportsmen or antique collectors that I believe (are) the problem."
jstewart@mississauga.net
Peel to put election candidates on hot seat
By: Joe Chin
September 19, 2008 07:14 AM - Federal candidates running in Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon will be personally confronted Monday by Peel Regional councillors who will be armed with a set of election demands.
The hard-hitting Peel wish list — titled Strengthening Peel and All Municipalities — was approved yesterday by councillors, who are putting their political differences aside to present a united front for the Oct. 14 election.
Ward 6 Councillor Carolyn Parrish, who heads Peel’s government relations committee, and Regional Chair Emil Kolb will walk the candidates through the list of demands. Peel's mayors and councillors will be there and the public is invited to attend the event, which begins at 9:30 a.m. in council chambers.
Parrish says the kid gloves will be off.
“When we’re finished, we’ll give each one of them a questionnaire and they’ll be given one week to return their answers. And (the answers) better be good. We don’t want to see party platforms regurgitated,” Parrish told The News.
The responses will be posted on the Region’s website for residents to see.
Parrish said the exercise isn’t meant to favour any political party.
“It’s all about what individual candidates (if elected) will do for Peel,” she said.
Mayor Hazel McCallion has already delivered a call to arms, calling on the country’s municipal leaders to set aside their political biases and go to bat for their cities, which face an estimated $122 billion infrastructure deficit. While the centrepiece of Peel’s demands is a bigger slice of the GST, it also wants strong federal action to fight poverty, immigration reform and assurances that jobless Ontarians will get the same access to benefits as the rest of the country.
Parrish says half of the candidates don't know what bad shape Peel’s in.
“Twenty per cent of children in Peel live in poverty,” she said. “This is an outrageous statistic for an area that is apparently so well off.
“Some of them will be shocked ...”
jchin@mississauga.net
Mississauga South riding vital to Conservatives: Flaherty
By: Julia Le
September 18, 2008 11:09 PM - Jim Flaherty had a busy day.
Hot on the campaign trail, the high-profile finance minister spoke at a campaign breakfast in Regina this morning, then came to the Mississauga South riding to speak at a private Conservative Party of Canada fundraiser at Port Credit's Waterside Inn at 7:30 p.m.
He said he was in town to talk about how the federal government is delivering real results for the community.
Prior to the private function, Flaherty told the press about the importance of the Mississauga South riding.
"This riding is, quite frankly, ripe for a Conservative Member of Parliament and the member-to-be is someone who has the business background, is the right candidate for the right riding at the right time," said Flaherty, who came to support his friend and Mississauga South Tory candidate, Hugh Arrison.
Flaherty, who is also the MP of Whitby-Oshawa, said the Mississauga South area was held by Tory Margaret Marland for many years and he believes the Conservative party understands the needs of this pocket of Mississauga.
"In the last election, we only lost the riding by 2,000 votes," added Arrison. "It was close then and it will probably be close now."
Among other issues, Flaherty addressed the hot topic of infrastructure, which has been of special interest to Mississauga, and has caused verbal battles between Flaherty and Mayor Hazel McCallion in the past.
He said the government has set aside $33 billion, divided into various funds, to put towards GTA infrastructure.
"I've been thrilled to be in Mississauga with Mayor Hazel McCallion to make the announcements about the investment by the Government of Canada and Mississauga Transit, the projects that Mayor McCallion advocated and there's more to come."
"We have a great program, a full program for the entire GTA area," said Flaherty. "Mississauga Transit, Brampton Transit, York Region Transit, Durham Transit, Toronto Transit Commission, subway cars, extending the subway, extending the highways— this is what we need to do to make the Great Toronto Area work, not just for the quality of life of all of us, which is important, but also because we need the economy to move, we need goods to move and we need people to be able to get around in the businesses in the Greater Toronto Area."
Flaherty said that the Conservative party is keeping a close watch on the Canadian economy, which he anticipates will slow down this year.
"International economic circumstances are turbulent, we also anticipated that. So we are in the best shape of any of the major industrialized countries in the world to withstand this economic turbulence," said Flaherty.
"Having said that, Canada isn't an island. We're affected by what happens with our trading partners in the G7 countries, so we have to watch carefully about what's going on, which I'm doing."
jle@mississauga.net
Harper returns to town to reinforce promises
By: Amit Gossai
Staff photo by Fred Loek
Prime Minister Stephen Harper met with members of the press today at the Plaza Double Tree Hotel near Pearson Airport. Mississauga Streetsville MP Wajid Khan moderated the event.
September 16, 2008 06:35 PM - As the federal election campaign continues to heat up, Prime Minister Stephen Harper continued his focus on the ethnic community in the "vote-rich" GTA.
At a closed-door meeting with the ethnic media today, Harper reiterated his promises to reduce the immigration backlog, get out of Afghanistan by 2011, and toughen up on crime.
"C-50 Bill (which contains the Tories' immigration reforms) is essential to improve family reunification," said Harper at the Doubletree by Hilton-Toronto Airport Hotel in Etobicoke. "We're committed to reduce the backlog and wait times."
Harper, who is trying to woo traditionally Liberal voters in the GTA, noted newcomers would soon be the largest population in Canada.
"New Canadians want to preserve their heritage and culture," he said. "When it comes to new Canadians, we want to make sure they are not off in a corner."
While the Tories hold one local riding, Mississauga-Streetsville, they did not win it at the polls. MP Wajid Khan, who was in attendance, crossed the floor from the Liberals to the Conservatives last year.
Mississauga's five other ridings are held by Liberals, most of them for a long time.
Harper, who has been a frequent visitor to Mississauga over the past month, said Canada would not leave Afghanistan until economic development occurs.
"We want to see improved health care and education," he told a reporter from a local Afghan newspaper. "We're focusing on the 3-D approach, which is development, diplomacy, and defence."
The Prime Minister also said he wishes to establish closer ties with India and China.
Harper, who has pushed mandatory prison sentences for firearm offences, lashed out at his opponents when asked to comment on crime.
"The other parties (NDP, Liberal, Green, Bloc Québécois) do not believe on tougher penalties on criminals," he said. "Crime is a serious problem across the country and we will maintain strong laws on firearms.
"In the end, crime is committed by criminals."
Harper, who is aiming to increase his seats in parliament, said that in these times of economic uncertainty, Canada needs a strong government, not a minority one.
"I want to see this country be stronger in the world and stronger in unity," he said.
Harper will complete his swing through the GTA tonight at an event in Oakville. That's where former newspaper columnist and financial advisor Garth Turner was elected for the Tories last time around. His outspoken criticism of Harper and the ruling party eventually through his personal blog caused his ouster from the caucus and now he is running for the Liberals against the Harper team.
The election is set for Tuesday, Oct. 14.
mississsauganews@live.com
Harper here to woo ethnic communities
By: John Stewart
Staff photo by Nikki Wesley
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is back in town today, just a week after he spoke at a Conservative rally held at the John Paul II Polish Cultural Centre.
September 16, 2008 08:48 AM - Prime Minister Stephen Harper swings his re-election campaign back through Mississauga today, where he hopes to win him key ridings in his bid for a majority government.
The Conservative leader will start his day in Kitchener, where he will make an announcement in that city that has been hard hit by manufacturing layoffs.
Then he stops off in Mississauga where he will hold a roundtable with journalists from the several ethnic newspapers that are based here.
While the Tories hold one local riding, Mississauga-Streetsville, they did not win it at the polls. MP Wajid Khan crossed the floor from the Liberals to the Conservatives last year.
Mississauga's five other ridings are held by Liberals, and most of them have been for many years.
Harper will complete his swing through the GTA tonight at an event in Oakville. That's where former newspaper columnist and financial advisor Garth Turner was elected for the Tories last time around. His outspoken criticism of Harper and the ruling party eventually through his personal blog caused his ouster from the caucus and now he is running for the Liberals against the Harper team.
Turner is the son of former Peel Board of Education Director A.J. (Archie) Turner.
jstewart@mississauga.net
Infrastructure is top election issue: McCallion
By: Dominik Kurek
Photo by Peter McCusker
Mayor Hazel McCallion addressed the business community yesterday at the Mississauga Convention Centre.
September 10, 2008 06:51 AM - Mayor Hazel McCallion has urged Mississauga business leaders to make funding for infrastructure the top issue in the upcoming federal election.
“It’s going to cost billions of dollars to get rid of gridlock in the GTA and Hamilton,” she said in her annual Mayor’s Address at a Mississauga Board of Trade (MBOT) luncheon yesterday.
Public transit is not the only infrastructure that needs increased public funding to grow the economy, said McCallion. Hospitals, roads, sewers are very important, too.
“We need to build infrastructure to attract business. (Businesses) will come if we can service them,” she said.
And Ottawa has to provide the money for infrastructure because the costs are too great for cities, McCallion noted.
She had a bit of advice of advice for voters: don’t vote for a party, vote for individuals who will “deal with the issues.”
Whoever gets elected, she said, should look to other countries for ideas on building infrastructure. There used to be a time when people from other countries would come to look at the TTC because it was one of the best systems in the world, but now other countries have overtaken Canada when it comes to transit systems, she said.
McCallion complained that Mississauga's Pearson International Airport pays the highest taxes of any hub in the country. But this isn’t a new thing, she said; all past governments were responsible.
She said voters should put candidates on the spot and ask, “Are they going to change that?”
As for Toronto, McCallion said it needs to be strong in order for the cities surrounding it to prosper. If both Toronto and Mississauga require a transit line — and funds are limited — Toronto should be given priority.
Promoting economic development is very important to the City, said McCallion, because companies that make money in Mississauga bring both taxes and jobs to the community.
“We don’t give tax breaks, we don’t need to if you are efficient,” she told the several hundred businessmen and women in attendance.
“Just because you get a company in the city, you don’t forget about them. We don’t forget about them,” she added.
McCallion spoke of Mississauga’s success over the past 30 years in transforming the city from a bedroom community to a workplace for thousands of people. On a daily basis more commuters come into Mississauga than go out to work, she pointed out.
McCallion repeated her call for another post-secondary institution in the city, and urged the business people to help.
“We’re going to be out in the corporate sector for funding,” she said.
As for the election, McCallion noted she wasn’t in favour of one being called at this time.
“I don’t think we need an election,” she said, noting the money needed to pay for an election could go towards funding much-needed infrastructure.
Poverty is top election issue for group
September 8, 2008 02:27 PM - Peel Poverty Action Group (PPAG) wants to make poverty an issue in the federal election.
Plans to accomplish this are on the agenda for PPAG’s regular meeting at 9.15 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 11, 2008, at the John Howard Society offices, 130 Dundas St. E. Everyone is welcome.
“We will be contacting all Peel candidates of all parties in the election, providing them with facts and figures about poverty in Peel Region. We hope they will recognize that poverty affects many thousands of people in Peel, and that candidates and others will incorporate the facts into campaign literature, into speeches, into questions at political meetings,” said Edna Toth, PPAG Chair.
"We hope to supplement our letters with a campaign to 'Get out the Cash-Poor vote,'" Toth added.
PPAG is a consortium of social service workers, agencies and community members from throughout the Region of Peel.
newsevents@live.com
Strippers take aim at Tories
By: John Stewart
September 5, 2008 08:25 AM - At a press conference outside a Mississauga strip club yesterday, adult entertainment industry leaders said they think a law that essentially bans foreign strippers should be an issue during the next federal election campaign.
It seems the unlikeliest of federal election issues, but adult entertainment industry representatives insist that the Conservative legislation should be on the public's radar as the election campaign begins.
"I am completely appalled that Diane Finley (federal immigration minister), as a woman, is not supporting women," said Sheena De Janeiro, a former dancer and now co-owner of the Airport Strip Club on Torbram Rd. in Malton. "What is she trying to say? That this is not a good opportunity for women?"
The Adult Entertainment Association of Canada, which hosted the conference outside the Treasures strip club on Atlantic Dr., denounced the new legislation, which they say is killing their business.
Treasures, the largest strip club in Canada, needs from 80 to 100 dancers a night, said owner Scott Kurtzman. Last night, they had 42.
"People don't come if they see the same faces," he said.
The law in question, Bill C-17, is unconstitutional and would be defeated in court, prominent Toronto lawyer Morris Manning said yesterday.
In a legal opinion provided to the Adult Entertainment Association, Manning said Finley, "is acting outside her authority in a manner that is contrary to the rule of law and democratic principles."
To the dozen exotic dancers and a club owner at the Treasures news conference, the motive was personal.
"We work hard to make the money to make something of ourselves," said Danielle, a 22-year-old dancer. "We end up being nurses and doctors and lawyers. Diane Finley has breasts like us and children like us and we all bleed the same. I don't understand how she can hate us like this."
"This issue is really upsetting to me," DeJaneiro said. "I am a prime example that the business is clean and safe and there is a future."
Responding to Manning's comments, Tim Vail, spokesperson for Minister Finley, wrote in an email: "We believe the bill (C-17) is constitutional. Bill C-17 legislation is clearly designed to help prevent the exploitation and abuse of foreign workers, such as strippers."
Until 1974, foreign strippers had their visas fast-tracked to Canada. In 2004, foreign strippers got 423 work permits and extensions. By 2006, the number was down to 17.
Tim Lambrinos, executive director of the Adult Entertainment Association, announced negotiations with private schools to bring strippers to Ontario on student visas, under which they could eventually work 20 hours a week legally.
The Adult Entertainment Association called on its members, employees and clubgoers to vote against the Conservatives over the issue in an election that is expected for Oct. 14.
jstewart@mississauga.net
McCallion makes election wishes known
By: The Mississauga News
September 3, 2008 09:01 AM - As Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative caucus get ready to ask for an election later this week, Mayor Hazel McCallion is beginning to draw up her shopping list of projects that the federal government should support.
On the top of that list are renewal of the national social housing program and more cash for public transit.
On the eve of a Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) meeting in Alberta that begins tomorrow, (Sept. 4) McCallion told The Toronto Sun that Mississauga and Peel Region need major assistance in providing more social housing.
A recent report found that families in Peel face a waiting list of 21 years for subsidized units, compared with the wait in Toronto of four to six years.
"We won't know until March 2009 if the federal government will renew (social housing) programs or get out of them," McCallion said, adding that it's been a long time since any new public housing has been built in her city.
The veteran mayor said Ottawa also needs to address the $120 million deficit in spending on transit spending that looms in the GTA.
Mayor David Miller of Toronto hopes that items to be thrown into the spotlight of debate during the federal election campaign will include transit improvements, a handgun ban and the creation of more "green" jobs.
jstewart@mississauga.net
More women needed in politics, says Minister
By: Julie Slack
Staff photo by Fred Loek
Liberal leader Stéphane Dion made an election stop at the Olde Barber House in Streetsville this morning where he was received by Mississauga-Streetsville Liberal candidate Bonnie Crombie and an all women group of GTA Liberal candidates.
September 2, 2008 10:35 PM - As rumours of an impending federal election hit a fever pitch tonight, a Tory cabinet minister came to town to deliver a message: More women are needed in politics.
Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs Rona Ambrose attended tonight's first meeting of the newly-formed Mississauga-Streetsville Conservative Women's Club.
"Women need to be more active in politics because there are particular challenges we face," Ambrose told a group of more than 30 woman who gathered to speak with the Conservative MP from Edmonton.
Ambrose told the gathering there is a cabinet meeting scheduled for Thursday (Sept. 4) in Ottawa, where she expects Prime Minister Stephen Harper to discuss calling an election.
"At this point, I'm waiting to hear more," she said. "The Prime Minister met with each of the opposition leaders and they found no common ground."
Harper is expected to speak with Governor General Michaelle Jean later this week, to ask her to dissolve Parliament for a Tuesday, Oct. 14 election.
Last night, most of the women in attendance seemed thrilled to be hearing from to a real female hero in Canadian politics.
"I'm thrilled with her message," said Melissa Bhagat, who's running for the Conservatives in Mississauga East-Cooksville. "It's very important for women from all walks of life to develop networks and grow and prosper."
Ambrose told the group that its purpose is particularly important as women's issues continue to be an integral part of the Conservative platform.
"We need women in politics now and we're creating history by being here today," said Wajid Khan, MP for Mississauga-Streetsville. "I don't know where I'd be without women. They nurture, they nourish, they give life. It's like they have a sixth sense."
Ambrose said her personal stand on violence against women was heard loud and clear by Harper's government, who last spring funded a family violence crisis centre in Alberta that's the first of its kind in North America.
She also said that several female MPs recently formed a group to discuss women's government issues.
jslack@mississauga.net
It’s time for inspired political leadership
"Every word seemed to stir the heart. It was a great hour to live." A. L. Rowse
By: Rick Drennan
September 1, 2008 12:00 AM - North American voters will almost simultaneously tread to the polls this fall: us in October, and them [Americans] in November.
Here, the air is toxic with cynicism.
We have no leader whose every word seems to stir the heart, like Rowse's description of Winston Churchill during the war years.
Canadians can't seem to warm to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
His cold, wolfish eyes and stiff manner make him distant and hard to like – let along vote for. But his chief rival, Liberal leader Stéphane Dion has fractured his Liberal party's chances of winning with his fractured English and questionable leadership skills.
If he does win, he might be the first PM to sign up for ESL (English as a Second Language) classes.
Down south, war hero John McCain stunned the electorate by naming a gun totin' NRA ‘Hockey Mom’ as his veep.
McCain is an uninspired speaker, with a nasty temper and a “maverick” handle as the great independent.
Then he picks Alaska Governor Sarah Palin who has a resume thinner than McCain’s comb-over.
Putting Palin a breath away from the Oval Office seems a bit unsettling, if not cartoonish.
Which leaves us with Democratic nominee Barack Obama.
He's tall, elegant, erudite, and has a 200-watt smile. His wife and kids seem straight out of central casting. He faced and overcame the enmity of the Clinton campaign during the Democratic primaries, and has a life story – raised by a single mom; graduate of Harvard Law; one-term senator – that rivals anything seen on an American political ticket since, well, the rise of another one-term Illinois senator, Abraham Lincoln.
Obama's acceptance speech – penned by the candidate himself – at the Democratic Convention in Denver, was tough and inspiring, and left many in the crowd of 80,000+ speechless, teary-eyed, and overcome with emotion.
I’m sure it had the same effect on a few Republican Party organizers.
Did the raucous response to Obama's rock star campaign drive McCain to do the unthinkable and nominate a moose huntin' creationist as his running mate?
Did he cave to the baser elements of his party, and in the process, ensure Obama's election?
Or was it a stroke of genius?
Maybe we shouldn't underestimate the American electorate's ability to honour mediocrity.
After all, George Bush was given TWO chances to screw up the country's economy and ruin its standing in the international community.
Will the U.S. put aside years of bitter racial injustice and jingoistic patriotism and elect a black man over a war hero?
I'm still not convinced – even after a visit this past summer to Obama country, Chicago, Illinois.
I wasn't searching for Gestalt, or some Jungian insights into the Obama character when I drove my daughter Sophie there for a three-day visit.
She was eager to shop the "Miracle Mile," and I was hoping to catch a Cubbies game at Wrigley.
She got her way; I missed mine. The Cubs were on the road.
But we did get a chance to tour the city, and see a few of the reasons why Obama has risen to such prominence.
First of all, we took the L train to Chicago's worst side, its south side.
The scene from the rail car wasn't pretty: pockmarked streets, rundown tenements, grinding poverty, thousands of out-of-work African-Americans.
This is where Obama said he found himself, and his political footing.
The freshly minted Harvard Law grad rejected the tony Chicago lifestyle and the job offers from big-name firms to help the less fortunate get better housing and honest jobs.
Chicago is a stormy, husky, and brawling milieu. No wonder author Carl Sandburg once described it as the "City of Big Shoulders."
Those shoulders might help carry Obama to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
In James Hillman's book, "The Soul's Code: In Search of Character and Calling," he says our society has been wrongly shaped by racism, hopelessness, and material striving.
Instead, we should be chasing after the lofty ideals of our destiny.
"For that is what is lost in so many lives, and what must be recovered: a sense of personal calling, that there is a reason why I am alive."
Obama was a lost and searching outsider with a multi-racial background when he arrived on the South Side. But, after many trials, he found his personal calling: public service.
Hillman thinks that each person enters this world "called," and like an acorn, we all have the ability to someday become giant oaks.
Some will ignore the call, or simply throw it away. Others will use the calling for evil purposes. Hitler, Stalin, and your everyday drug dealer would fit that bill.
Hillman says work, family, gridlock, technology, or simply too much TV hypnotizes most of us into ignoring the call. We've collapsed into a world where we have become spectators, not players, in our own lives.
It's like walking in a maze of your own making, he says.
Too many of us believe there is no exit.
But there is – if you tap into your own hidden daemon, or genius.
The great political leaders seemed instinctively to know this, especially Lincoln, who was repeatedly rejected for public office until he became the long shot winner of the Republican nomination in the 1860 election.
Those who scoffed at the candidate's ragged looks or mocked his "lack of experience," didn't know his character or commitment.
Churchill was a discarded political force. In the 1930s he railed against the Hitler threat, and was ignored or mocked. Until, in desperation, the country tapped him on the shoulder as Nazism ran wild across Europe.
"I felt as if I were walking with destiny," said Churchill, "and that my past life had been but a preparation for this hour and for this trial."
Your psyche or soul is the repository of individual fate, says Hillman, and this defining image, or guiding providence, is within all of us – for both good and bad.
Character, he says, forms a life regardless of how obscurely that life is lived and how little light falls on it from the stars.
Shakespeare was the first Jungian analyst when he wrote: "There is history in all men's lives."
Hillman, author of 20 books, says people who live decent, full, useful lives, can go unrecognized in our egocentric world.
Lincoln’s life would have gone unnoticed if he hadn’t been chosen Republican leader.
“If most of us remain ignorant of ourselves,” wrote Aldous Huxley, “it is because self-knowledge is painful, and we prefer the pleasures of illusion.”
According Joshua Wolf Shenk, author of Lincoln’s Melancholy, Lincoln was fully aware of himself – however painful. This knowledge (also shared by Churchill) “helps explain the widely acknowledged but poorly understood phenomenon of melancholic success.”
Hillman thinks we should praise our self-made leaders, regardless of their status in society.
"As long as we regard people in terms of earning power or specific expertise,” he says, “we do not see their character.”
Hillman says we shouldn't forget that societies are elevated and rewarded by those "who are inspired."
The hero is the one who performs deeds for the glory of the whole.
It is also why the exceptional person is always suspected.
Lincoln and Churchill were both loved and loathed.
Same with Obama.
Lincoln was assassinated by a racist hatemonger, while Churchill was thrown out of office at war's end.
Obama is black, and it’s yet to be proved that the American voting public is colour blind.
He’s also running in a culture that imagines inspiration to be asocial.
It's driven many Obama-haters to cling tenaciously to the uninspired mediocrity of the Republican ticket – or compare his credentials with McCain’s, or Palin’s.
While in Illinois, I couldn't resist the opportunity to visit Springfield, the home of Lincoln.
We stopped in front of the Illinois State legislature where both he and Obama sat as little-known representatives. It was in front of this building that Obama held the festive kick-off to his presidential run. He returned months later to unveil his pick for VP, Joe Biden.
Kitty-corner to the legislature is Lincoln’s home, and that’s where I dragged my disinterested 15-year-old daughter to see where the great man once lived.
Was there a clue there to his genius? We walked into the parlour, and stood inches from his writing table.
"A great man once lived here," I said to her, a hero-worshipping tone to my voice.
“Oh,” she said.
Did our visit pique her curiosity about this gawky, country lawyer who put the boots to slavery and saved a nation, and in effect made the election of Obama this November a distinct possibility?
Maybe. Maybe not.
All I know is that Hillman was right. There are no clues to a person's genius in parlours or reading rooms. It's there in the shadows – in those speeches that inspired millions. In the day to day character tests. In the deeds of someone who is truly called.
Perhaps some day Canada will be blessed with such a man or woman.
But not this election.
Will the United States look past the uninspired mediocrity of eight years of Bush and elect a man of character and calling?
Lincoln shouldered the burdens of a splintered nation during its greatest trial, the Civil War.
Churchill's "shoulders held the sky suspended" during Britain's greatest challenge, wrote a biographer.
It seems only fitting and timely that someone from Chicago should “shoulder” the weight of America’s great challenges as it now steps forward into this new century.
Will Obama be given the chance?
Keep your fingers crossed.
