The municipal election is in 22 days. The time has flown by. It seems like each week has presented new issues and opportunities to promote my candidate -- a male candidate named Alex Mazer -- and his vision for a more equal Toronto.
I began volunteering with Alex in July. It started with a canvass -- one of his volunteers came to my door. I looked down at a postcard and said, "Hey! I've met this guy before." I had -- seven years prior in the backyard of mutual friends when Alex and his family moved to Toronto. The mutual friends moved away; I saw Alex and his wife in the neighbourhood, but didn't reconnect. He was almost a stranger to me except that we once had a beer in the same backyard.
To be honest, my partner and I weren't really thinking about our ward race at that point. We were consumed with the antics of the mayoral candidates, much like other Torontonians. I was disappointed with Ward 18's current councillor's vote on many issues, but I was resigned to vote for her again because we need more women in politics. I knew people who knew and liked her. I can't say I trusted her, but she was a better option than the other candidates I had seen so far. Then I met Alex at my door -- he'd come up behind the canvasser to speak with me. He recognized me vaguely, but he still had to pitch me.
We talked about transit, better budgeting and engaging the community in a new decision-making process. He brought up the topic of inequality -- something I'd never heard the incumbent councillor discuss in the ward in spite of her position with TCHC. He was intelligent, sincere and clearly ready for leadership. He was running as an independent regardless of his work with the provincial and federal Liberals.
I was sold. I gave him my card and offered to help with his communications. The rest is history.
I wish I could say that it was hard for me to choose a straight, white, middle-class man over a woman who came to Canada with her family as an immigrant from Portugal. The truth is, it wasn't.
Alex presented a smart, egalitarian platform that I could get behind. I still had no idea what Ana Bailao stands for. I'm not sure I do now. Yes, she is pro-labour. She voted positively on most environmental issues except transportation (arguably the most critical of them all). While her office had returned all my emails (often with a stock letter), her work didn't satisfy me. (Her EA did, for what it is worth. He's an excellent constituency representative.) She voted to remove the Vehicle Registration Tax, reduce transit service and funding, and in favour of the Scarborough subway. She voted in favour of Mayor Ford's budgets which reduced programs at recreation centres. She had done nothing in my ward about improving cycling conditions on main arteries; she didn't even petition the city to fix the Lansdowne/College/Dundas intersection after Jenna Morrison was killed in 2011. Cheri Di Novo, the Parkdale MPP, took action immediately. She voted 41% of the time with Rob Ford in 2013 -- his most controversial year in office.
To be clear, I am voting and working for Alex Mazer and not against the current councillor. It's not a vendetta. It's about values and vision. Alex is more pro-feminist than I believe she is feminist. He is openly supportive of LGBTQ people -- my more politically engaged queer friends say they've never heard of Ana supporting us. He knows that investing time and money in affordable housing, transit, cycling infrastructure, food security, childcare and education will result in a more equal ward and city. What's more, he knows every inch of this ward from canvassing it and living on St. Clarens for five years. Even now, he lives only 650 meters from the ward boundary, close to Christie Pitts. (It's not like he's in Willowdale and being parachuted in like the new MPP.) He would like to showcase Ward 18 to the rest of the city because he's seen the leadership here first hand. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, you know. I waited for Alex to become a diva or a power-hungry political animal. It's not happening. I don't think it ever will. He's surrounded by people, like his incredible partner and parents, who will keep him honest if need be. I don't think it is necessary. That guy who comes to your door in his chinos and button down, is the real deal. He's that polite and thoughtful. He really cares. He returns from canvassing to talk about the people he met and their stories, not how many signs he got. It invigorates him. And he's renewed my optimism in municipal politics. I'm glad that I listened to my gut and volunteered with Alex. He's the kind of person we need at City Hall.