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<strong>The</strong> International News Weekly October 19, 2018 | Toronto<br />
03<br />
<strong>The</strong> GTA's most interesting mayoral race is<br />
getting contentious, and a little weird<br />
Brampton : <strong>The</strong> day former<br />
Ontario PC leader Patrick Brown<br />
entered Brampton's mayoral race,<br />
incumbent mayor Linda Jeffrey<br />
fired out a scathing series of<br />
tweets questioning Brown's intentions<br />
and ties to the city.<br />
That opening volley has been<br />
followed by nearly three months<br />
of anger, accusations and personal<br />
attacks from all sides. <strong>The</strong><br />
contentious race shows no sign of<br />
letting up just days before voters<br />
cast their ballots.<br />
"<strong>The</strong> tenor, the tone, the divisiveness<br />
of this campaign is very<br />
different," Jeffrey told CBC Toronto<br />
during a campaign stop at<br />
a downtown Brampton bakery.<br />
"I've run campaigns since 1991<br />
and I've never seen one so polarizing."<br />
Jeffrey is maintaining her<br />
accusation that Brown jumped<br />
into the race, and city, at the last<br />
minute in a bid to "rehabilitate"<br />
his career. Brown was forced to<br />
resign as leader of the Progressive<br />
Conservatives following allegations<br />
of sexual misconduct<br />
dating to his days as an MP were<br />
published in January, though he<br />
has denied any wrongdoing.<br />
Brown's mayoral bid has resulted<br />
in Brampton communities<br />
being "pulled apart," Jeffrey said,<br />
before adding that most voters<br />
have been vocal in their distaste<br />
of Brown.<br />
"<strong>The</strong>y're actually angry that<br />
he would put his name on the ballot,"<br />
she said.<br />
Brown, who has represented<br />
Barrie at the federal level and<br />
nearby Simcoe North provincially,<br />
merely pretends to understand<br />
the <strong>issue</strong>s facing Brampton, Jeffrey<br />
contends.<br />
Brown slams Jeffrey for<br />
American-style politics<br />
Brown, who now lives with<br />
his wife in downtown Brampton,<br />
says he's actually shown a better<br />
understanding of Brampton's<br />
challenges during debates than<br />
the city's incumbent mayor, who's<br />
lived in the city for some 35 years.<br />
"<strong>The</strong>re's a real appetite for<br />
change," he told CBC Toronto.<br />
"People are fed up, whether it's<br />
skyrocketing taxes, whether it's<br />
record crime, whether it's gridlock,<br />
a lack of good-paying jobs."<br />
While Jeffrey blames Brown<br />
for jump-starting the bitter campaign,<br />
Brown says it's Jeffrey's<br />
political tactics that are to blame.<br />
"<strong>The</strong> negative campaign<br />
push by Linda Jeffrey is similar<br />
to what we see in the States," he<br />
said. "I don't think it's welcome in<br />
Brampton."<br />
Sitting in an empty room at<br />
his campaign office, Brown pivots<br />
to an attack on Jeffrey's four-year<br />
tenure as mayor. He says her lack<br />
of leadership has contributed to<br />
rising property taxes and shootings.<br />
"Let me mark my words:<br />
you're not going to see a vacuum<br />
of leadership. You're not going to<br />
hear crickets out of city hall if I'm<br />
the mayor of Brampton," Brown<br />
said emphatically.<br />
He says Jeffrey has been<br />
a poor advocate for the city —<br />
which is home to 600,000 people<br />
and growing at a rate more than<br />
twice the national average.<br />
"I'm tired of seeing Brampton<br />
walked over," he said. "I'm tired of<br />
seeing Brampton bullied."<br />
Jeffrey's rebuttal to an opponent<br />
forced out by the ruling provincial<br />
party and a former member<br />
of the federal opposition: "I<br />
don't think [Brown] has the ability<br />
to navigate anything federally<br />
or anything provincially."<br />
Oddities, endorsements, and...<br />
selfies?<br />
Alongside the political bickering,<br />
the campaign has also<br />
featured some unusual developments<br />
and input from people outside<br />
the city.<br />
Earlier this week, political<br />
consultant Warren Kinsella,<br />
who's working on Toronto Mayor<br />
John Tory's re-election campaign,<br />
tweeted out a collage of photos of<br />
Brown.<br />
An official on Jeffrey's campaign<br />
called the tweet "amusing"<br />
but said Kinsella has no ties to the<br />
campaign.<br />
A group of politicians across<br />
several political stripes also appeared<br />
together this week to officially<br />
endorse Jeffrey at a campaign<br />
rally.<br />
<strong>The</strong> group included Liberal<br />
MPs as well as MPPs affiliated<br />
with the NDP, Liberals and Progressive<br />
Conservatives. Jeffrey<br />
said the group endorsement was<br />
a direct response to Brown's entry<br />
into the race. "It was kind of like<br />
being at the oasis and watching<br />
all the animals coming together<br />
who don't normally hang out with<br />
each other," Jeffrey said of the<br />
rally, which she also described as<br />
"uncomfortable."<br />
Brown, meanwhile, recently<br />
secured a high profile endorsement<br />
from former premier Bill<br />
Davis, who used to represent<br />
Brampton at Queen's Park. Brown<br />
describes Davis as the greatest<br />
premier in Ontario history.<br />
"I think the fact that he's endorsed<br />
my campaign speaks volumes<br />
of the need for change," he<br />
said.<br />
With thanks from www.cbc.ca<br />
Election Day:<br />
Monday, October 22, 10:00am – 8:00pm<br />
üSafer community<br />
Attract and create jobs<br />
ü<br />
ü<br />
Advance Voting:<br />
October 2 – 13<br />
Improve transit and fight gridlock<br />
For more information:<br />
info@lindajeffrey.ca www.lindajeffrey.ca Facebook.com/BramptonLinda<br />
@LindaJeffrey Volunteering: LindaJeffrey.ca 289-201-0609
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