A female doctor of Somali heritage is getting attention in Etobicoke North. A Muslim candidate is running strong against a veteran incumbent in Don Valley West. And two gay Chinese candidates are slugging it out in Toronto-Centre Rosedale.
From one end of the city to the other, female and minority candidates are running competitively in at least a dozen ward races. If even a handful are elected, it will mean a significantly more diverse council come next year.
Toronto’s motto may be “Diversity Our Strength,” but you wouldn’t know it looking at the 44 councillors — only nine women, and four people from visible minorities — currently representing the city.
That may soon change.
Sandeep Agrawal, a professor at Ryerson University who has studied the ethnic impact on city council, says it’s not that diverse candidates haven’t run in the past, it’s that they stand a better chance than ever of winning.
Race and gender tolerance, larger voter turnout by immigrant citizens and the retirement of the old guard are all helping this happen, he said.
“Incumbents usually have the upper hand. Going back in the history, some of these councillors have been around for 20 years. They were elected in a time where white male politicians were the norm,” said Agrawal.
“With so many incumbents leaving and so many seats open, hopefully change will come.”
A perfect example is in Ryerson’s own backyard, Ward 27. With Kyle Rae’s retirement, Toronto-Centre Rosedale is open to a newcomer. Two of the strongest contenders are Ken Chan, an openly gay former police officer and a former senior aide to George Smitherman, and Kristyn Wong-Tam, a lesbian real estate agent and art dealer.
In Howard Moscoe’s vacated ward, Rob Davis, a black Catholic school board trustee and former councillor, has a good chance at winning.
And it’s not just the empty seats. Several white incumbents are vulnerable.
Mohamed Dhanani, a Muslim businessman, has a shot at knocking off John Parker in Don Valley West. Dhanani lost by just 214 votes in 2006.
“I think it will shift in a very positive direction,” said Councillor Joe Mihevc. “There are a lot of really exciting candidates from various backgrounds. I think the next council could shape up to be a very interesting and dynamic council, with fresh ideas and perspectives that have never been presented before.”
Mihevc says one to watch is Ward 2 candidate Cadigia Ali, an Italian-trained Somali doctor who now works as a civil servant in the Ministry of Community and Social Services.
Ali ran a very distant second to Rob Ford in 2006 and is now taking on Ford’s brother and campaign manager, Doug.
“The reason I ran is not because I’m a diverse person but because I have experience and because I’m working in the community and I think I can help people,” she said. “We have the world within our ward: African, South Asian, Eastern European, we have Latinos. And people are tired of what’s happening. The feeling that I am hearing is, ‘Nobody does nothing for us.’”
Job creation is one of the main issues Ali is campaigning on. If elected, she would advocate for the massive Woodbine Live development to allocate 30 per cent of the estimated 10,000 jobs created there to local residents.
Ali knows it will be an uphill battle trying to knock off the Ford brand, but she’s prepared for the challenge.
That’s just the kind of spirit that makes female candidates successful, said Rob Newman, who runs the Better Ballots advocacy group.
“Anecdotally, female candidates are actually more successful than male candidates. Fewer of them run, so fewer are elected, but when they do run they tend to be more successful,” he said. “The reason is that guys tend to be, ‘What the heck — I’ll give it a shot, see what happens.’ Women tend to really think, ‘Okay, I’m not going to run until I believe I have a chance to be successful.’”
The challenge is helping female candidates see that they’re ready, he said.
“Thankfully, I think this is starting to happen.”
Source: TheStar.com
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