Etobicoke-Centre Town Hall: 4 Key Takeaways
On May 18th, the candidates for the riding of Etobicoke-Centre gathered for a virtual town hall moderated by Reverend Brian McIntosh in partnership with Etobicoke Climate Action and ECULINKS Etobicoke. All candidates for parties that currently have at least one sitting MPP were invited to participate. The candidates invited were Minister of Infrastructure Kinga Surma of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, Noel Semple of the Ontario Liberal Party, Heather Vickers-Wong of the Ontario New Democratic Party, and Brian MacLean of the Green Party of Ontario. While only three of the four invitees showed up, the town hall was a great chance to get to know the candidates and see what they’re all about.
For the third time in as many weeks, here’s what Moe Knows:
What stood out the most about the town hall was the glaring absence of Kinga Surma. The moderator mentioned at the beginning that the Minister of Infrastructure had been notified of the possible dates for the town hall in advance of the other candidates and gave no clear response as to what date would work best for her. Eventually, the other candidates confirmed their attendance for a certain date and Ms. Surma still did not provide an answer. She would eventually confirm that she would not be attending the town hall but gave no justification. I reached out to her campaign office personally to ask for an explanation and if she planned on attending any other town hall-style event for Etobicoke-Centre. I was told that they would get back to me but at the time of writing this article, I have yet to hear back. If I do, it will be posted in an update to this article. The absence of Ms. Surma is notable considering the troubling pattern of PC candidates avoiding debates and town halls in their ridings. It’s disrespectful to their constituents when any MPP refuses to participate in local events in their community but for a sitting Minister of Infrastructure to be M.I.A is particularly offensive. You would think a Minister in the provincial government would want to be seen by her whole riding to be participating in grassroots democracy, but you would, unfortunately, be sadly mistaken. It’s embarrassing, frankly, to see such a visible and important member of the PC cabinet shirk an opportunity to defend/promote her party’s platform to her own constituents.
Why doesn’t the Green Party get more love? Man do I regret not doing a deep dive into their platform this election cycle. To try and atone, I’ll post links to their platform and costing here. Brian MacLean, Green Party candidate for Etobicoke-Centre, was far and away the best performer in this town hall. He was articulate, passionate, and clearly believed in what he was saying. Green Party leader Mike Schreiner’s stock, and the party’s stock for that matter, is rising and it’s easy to see why. The Greens care. They’re passionate about climate change, they believe in education, they want to improve our healthcare system, and they really want to try and make life better. Brian MacLean’s words during the town hall did not sound empty. He knew the Green Party platform very well, was honest about its benefits, and didn’t need to rely on talking points provided by the party because he sincerely believed in what he was saying. It was awesome to see a local politician who’s not just passionate about making a difference in their riding but is also passionate about their riding.
Noel gets it. He wasn’t the most energetic candidate in the town hall, but it was clear he had a clear grasp on the situation at hand. Etobicoke-Centre has only existed as a riding since 1996 and has only been contested for 23 years, the riding has been reliably Liberal with a pair of Conservative victories mixed in. A Liberal MPP has held Etobicoke-Centre for 15 out of those 23 years. Kinga Surma won for the Conservatives in 2018, but it’s clear that this riding is going to vote either Liberal or Conservative while the other parties essentially battle for third place. Noel knows this. He raised the point a few times during the town hall and really tried to paint it as a two-horse race. He also seemed to be genuinely passionate about his riding and believed in the Liberal platform. He was a good speaker and had a detailed answer for every question asked. It would have been nice to see him get pressed a little bit more on the LGBT controversy stirred up by unearthed comments he made while in university. I don’t believe that should ruin his candidacy and I thought his apology was actually quite meaningful, but it still would’ve been nice to press him on his actions and what his government will do to prove he doesn’t hold those same derogatory views.
The NDP won’t win Etobicoke-Centre like this. Don’t get me wrong, I like Heather Vickers-Wong. She’s a long-time resident of the area and it’s clear she cares very much about the success and wellbeing of the community. However, she was the least impressive speaker of the event. She seemed to rely heavily on pre-written notes that sounded like they were written by Andrea Horwath herself. Her message was great, the NDP platform is great, but relying on talking points and reading off a script really doesn’t let one’s own personal feelings shine through. No matter how good your message is, if your delivery is not even remotely charismatic, it’s not going to get through to people. The NDP need to realize this and work to improve their delivery if they ever want to seriously challenge the Liberal/Conservative grip on Etobicoke-Centre.
And that’s it for the Etobicoke-Centre town hall. You can watch a replay of the event in full here. It was a great opportunity to get to know the candidates and see what kind of leadership each one brings to the table. It would’ve been nice to hear from Kinga Surma, but I guess she must’ve had more pressing matters to tend to than interacting with her constituency.
Oh, well! Until next time, don’t forget to register to vote and find out how you can vote! Cheers!