In the parking lot of the Etobicoke Civic Centre, a lone figure staged a silent protest on Tuesday morning, October 1.
The man, clad all in black, stood next to his van in front of the building’s main entrance, a sign taped to the vehicle’s window declaring “Democracy Is Dead In Ward 3.”
Peter Caragianakos was making that solemn pronouncement in response to council’s decision to appoint a successor to former councillor Doug Holyday, who left City Hall for Queen’s Park in August, instead of holding a by-election.
Caragianakos had wanted a chance to run in an election, and when he was denied that, he attempted to register his dog Ozzy as a candidate for appointment instead. He was unsuccessful.
Inside, where eight members of Etobicoke York Community Council and Mayor Rob Ford had gathered to pick their preferred candidate, the proceedings were only slightly less bizarre.
Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti kicked the meeting off by attempting to cancel the meeting. Like Caragianakos, he objected to the appointment process, which he said was a “horrible decision” because council has the final say on who gets the job. That would allow “councillors that don’t seem to mind their business” to decide who represents Etobicoke Centre, Mammoliti said.
Councillor Peter Milczyn was forced to point out that the meeting hadn’t even been called to order, so Mammoliti couldn’t move a motion to cancel it.
Once the session was properly under way and Mammoliti’s gambit voted down, all the candidates were given five minutes to address the local council. (Although 45 signed up, only 28 turned out to speak.)
The bar to be eligible for a council appointment is not high. Any Canadian citizen who is at least 18 years old, rents or owns property in Toronto and is not legally prohibited from voting or holding office can put his or her name forward.
As you’d expect, throwing the doors open to all comers attracted some unexpected characters. In addition to the handful of former politicians looking to revive their career, a motley assemblage of underdog contenders lined up to make their pitch.
Some offered tales of personal struggle. Danish Ahmed, who founded the Party for People with Special Needs to run in the 2007 provincial election, recounted how his albinism and partial blindness make daily tasks like taking public transit a difficult ordeal.
“Having that type of challenge is very daunting,” he said. “It takes a lot of effort and structure and discipline,” characteristics that would be useful on council.
Others offered up supposed expertise. Chaitanya Kalevar, a diminutive Indian man who said he was an engineer, took the podium wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with a poem about global warming. He was vying for a council seat in order to help the city fight climate change. “I think city council doesn’t have any engineers,” he said. “You should give me a chance to fill that void. You need me!”
Some proposed spiritual solutions to council divisions. “Whether we are [right wing or left wing], we are basically leaves of the same plant, and we are attempting to give raise to the blossoming of Toronto,” said Naidu Pandurangan. “We are really… the children of god.”
Others touted their youth and intellect. Aziza Mohammed, a former Queen’s Park staffer and one-time candidate for Miss Canada Globe, presented an impressive resumé that included volunteering for political campaigns and working with UNICEF in India.
Still others waxed poetic about the startling pace of development in the city. Rising from his red mobility scooter to address the room, Rudy Nagel railed against high-rises and airport expansion plans.
“My name is Old Crusty. I’m a dark horse. I’m a tortoise. I’m a slow-moving tortoise,” he intoned, stretching out the word “slow.”
“The rabbit’s in the race. Remember who won,” he said.
Princess Boucher, who has spent some time on the welfare rolls, gamely laid out a decidedly progressive platform for the predominately conservative community council. She said that if appointed she would work to put speed bumps in neighbourhoods and working security cameras in high-risk housing areas, and provide homeless shelters and youth employment programs.
“I ask you to consider injecting new blood into the City Hall by appointing me,” said Boucher, who still sometimes relies on food banks to get by. “I am from the people… and I will stand by the people.”
With such a diverse field to choose from, it’s perhaps a shame that community council opted for such a predictable choice in Chris Stockwell, the former Metro Toronto councillor and Mike Harris cabinet minister, who won the recommendation on the third runoff ballot.
Stockwell had the mayor’s backing from the first vote and beat out fellow former politicians like Bruce Sinclair (Etobicoke mayor 1984-94), Agnes Potts (Etobicoke councillor 1994-97) and John Nunziata (MP for York South-Weston, 1984-2000).
But it’s no surprise that with only one year until the October 2014 election and little time for Holyday’s replacement to learn the ropes, councillors were averse to picking a candidate without previous experience.
Council will meet next Thursday, October 10, to approve Holyday’s successor. All the candidates who registered to run are still technically in the running, and have the option of addressing council at that meeting as well – but many conceded that community council’s recommendation had likely sealed their fate.
bens@nowtoronto.com | @bens