Revenge is a dish best served cold
When Hazel McCallion confirmed to me this morning by phone that she was indeed running for one more term as mayor of Mississauga, there was a hint of anger and revenge in her tone. Anger that Mississauga council has become dysfunctional and that some councillors (they know who they are) have had the knives out for the last couple of years. They are the ones who pushed for a public inquiry into Hazel’s handling of the convention centre land deal that eventually fell apart. Hazel appears for the second time at the inquiry on September 20 and 21. She tells me she is looking forward to providing the facts and looking forward to the inquiry’s report later next year.
No doubt. Some on council thought the timing of the inquiry they voted in favour of would compromise or kneecap Hazel’s chances of winning a 12th term, so now is the time to find out. All they have to do is run against her, now, in this election.
Hazel told me she won’t be running a campaign, won’t be raising money, but will encourage anyone who wants to contribute to pass it on to charity.
If others were waiting to learn what Hazel was going to do before deciding what they were going to do, then now is the time to put their money where their mouths have been. Hazel is not stopping anyone else from running for mayor. She is not in the way of any other councillors’ desire for the democratic right to convince the people of Mississauga that the city would be better off without her.
So go ahead, knock yourself out knocking on doors. Should be pretty easy to knock the wind out of an almost 90-year-old “hurricane” don’t you think?
3 Responses to “ Revenge is a dish best served cold ”
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September 8th, 2010 at 12:11 pm
She is ONE of the “dysfunctionals”.. I have watched her bully all councillors for over three decades. Wondered why we ever elected councillors when she ruled the roost. No one person can take credit for a “debt free” home of Fortune 500 companies. She most likely made them an offer they could not refuse. Nice cover up by being visible . People should pay more attention to their local governments, no matter where they live. Hurricanes do damage also, sometimes irrepairable.
September 8th, 2010 at 3:11 pm
McCallion seems to be aging well from outward appearances. She served her community very well over the last three decades. Yet the city and the region must rely on newer blood and newer ideas.
I am not going to refer to the present scandal involving her son and a failed ill thought project. These things go on at the municipal level all the time. Instead I want to see her go out in dignity, with praise ringing in her ears. She is at the top of her game.
We need political idols. She is one of mine although I don’t always agree with her planks. That sort of thing is allowed in a democracy. But we are short of genuine idols new politicians can look to.
What I fear most is that she goes one term too far. Many champions do this. They fail to step back at the right time. In McCallion’s case the only thing she appears to be putting on the table is just four more years. The city needs a new driving force with new ideas.
There is no professional sports complex or professional team in Mississauga. It should have one. It wants to be treated with widespread respect. It needs brand recognition. It has none. Big deal so the books are balanced. Next door Toronto spends like a drunken sailor and gets things through brand respect that Mississauga never will get. While it is a well run city, it still functions as a bed room city not a dynamic force of its own.
McCallion should have made this the last term and called it quits. She will win unless Rob Ford jumps jurisdictions. Which is a shame because she condemned herself to a four year lame duck status. As a result, any idea she has will end up on the heap because every single councillor in that chamber will be playing a bloody parade of back stabbings in anticipation of inheriting the mayor’s chain. The last term looks like a disaster waiting to happen.
September 8th, 2010 at 9:21 pm
So why doesn’t somebody of substance run against her to change things up?