On Thursday Oct 2, 2014 at The Brampton Young Professionals Forum (#BramYPF), the future of Brampton became a little more clear. The front running candidates for Mayor of Brampton were engaged in a debate. Attempting to win the hearts and minds of potential voters, while painting their unique vision of the city's future. The audience was a respectful and diverse mix of emerging young professionals and more established concerned residents. Brampton has been very active in the GTA political news scene due to ongoing controversies at City Hall. This debate would be one of the first with all the front running candidates participating. The venue was Lab•B, an exciting new start up based out of downtown Brampton. The old school media was present, and the anticipation was killer. Ironically, one of the candidates was late to arrive for the most Brampton reason of all, they were stuck in traffic.
Candidates Left to Right: John Sanderson. Susan Fennell, Linda Jeffrey, Devinder Sangha.
The standing room only crowd were treated to a focused, and well moderated debate by Jahmeela Gamble, the host/producer of TV program "A Voice for All" on Rogers10. Candidates were instructed to avoid unfocused attacks concerning the controversies at city hall and stay on topic when answering the questions presented. Ms. Gamble did a great job of keeping things on track and giving everyone equal time to make their points. Even though this led to a sometimes sterile feeling debate ( I was honestly hoping for a s**t show), it was the right decision for the fairness and integrity of the debate. The mudslinging and controversies are very entertaining and they do get the people engaged. However, the drama and hurt feelings can also easily become a distraction from reasonable discourse and can actually hinder the process of allowing people to make informed and enlightened decisions. #TurnUp to vote! #TurnDown for the debates.
Even though there were tight regulations and a generally polite vibe, there were some good zingers, especially- as noted above- from Devinder Sangha. A successful local businessman, Mr. Sangha believes he can get Brampton back in business and bring some good ol' fasioned "integrity, sincerity, and trust" back to City Hall. He stressed that all his opponents are long time politicians, and can all be implicated in various cases of money wasting and/or general incompetence. He pushed himself as a candidate with a fresh perspective, yet vital private sector experience. Additionally he showcased himself as the outsider candidate and someone who was not already complacent to the entrenched culture of ineffective governance. Mr. Sangha provided some of the more colourful commentary of the evening and definitely appealed to the inner "outraged Bramptonian" in us all.
Councillor John Sanderson espoused his years of experience in city council, yet was adamant in emphasizing he was not a "career politician". He presented himself as a true Brampton guy who has worked hard for the city and performed admirably, despite resistance from Mayor Fennell, and detachment from then MPP Linda Jeffrey. He gave a real example of how he brought jobs to Brampton via networking by getting a deal with Air Canada to bring its new operation centre to Brampton. He also talked about how he has the experience to run the city from his years in council, but would still bring a new way and immediate reforms including: a $50,000 salary pay cut from his mayoral salary, cutting the mayor's private driver expense ($50,000), and limiting his leadership as mayor to only 2 terms, or 8 years.
Former Liberal MPP and cabinet minister Linda Jeffrey has quickly established herself as the front runner in this municipal election. She brings the mix of being a new voice of Brampton with the support of an established political brand to her advantage. In this debate she talked about her experience in the municipal and provincial level, and the important working relationships she has established with provincial leaders. Ms. Jeffrey talked about how she was lobbied by many prominent residents in Brampton to step down from provincial politics and lead Brampton to much delayed change. Ms, Jeffrey debated with the calm, cool confidence of a pro, and brought many unique perspectives and ideas from her experience in the provincial level of government.
The embattled incumbent mayor Susan Fennell also made her case. Ms. Fennell may have been shielded from an all out assault from her opponents about various controversies, but she was still very much on he defensive. Ms. Fennell pointed to the staggering growth of Brampton and how her administration has managed it. The improvements in public transportation, her commitment to downtown Brampton, and her continued commitment to the youth of the city. Ms. Fennell may not be my favourite candidate, but I will give her credit, she is a pro! She articulated her points very well and did not seem like a candidate with such well publicized dark clouds looming over her career. Ms. Fennell has never been the "boogeywoman"some accusations would have you believe. Nor is she as polarizing as Rob Ford, however she is also not particularly endeared like Hazel McCallion in Mississauga. Ms. Fennell has always rode the wave of -people not minding her and/or being indifferent and/or being unaware of who she is- just simply ask around about the mayor of Brampton, if you can avoid trendy rage at alleged controversy you'll surely come to understand that most people don't have much of opinion at all. No matter how aware one my be of the proceedings, most will agree its time for change. Even though Ms. Fennell had a decent showing at the debate, it is highly unlikely, in my opinion, that the change hungry Brampton will elect her for another term.
Many important issues were debated including:
JDA is a #BramptonRises kinda guy! He just ended that article with a misguided "Scary Movie" reference. Follow him on twitter @Jibbyville.
Many important issues were debated including:
- Public Transportation/Transit fares
- University campus in Brampton
- Jobs in Brampton
- Downtown Development
- Youth work/business strategies
- future of healthcare in Brampton
- mental health strategies
- transparency and accountability.
Everyone gave their best efforts at presenting their ideas, and solutions to many of these present and emerging problems. There were the moments of palpable tension, a few crazy promises, and many pointless platitudes that one would expect from a political debate. As is the game, and all the candidates played it quite well. I can't yet say who is my choice for mayor, there are some more issues I would like to research, and no one has really stood out...yet. I will concede that the results of this election are almost insignificant to me except for the fact that Brampton, finally, will get the changes it desperately yearns for. It has grown for too long without any real direction, or community leadership. Local voices need to rise up and be heard and the people needs to be re-engaged. I then realized that change is already happening, right before my eyes. Which is why my MVP award for the evening doesn't go to any of the candidates, but instead goes to the venue/hosts for the evening, Brampton's own Lab•B.
Lab•B is a new co-working space and engine for the creative economy of Brampton. The start up was founded in 2013 by a group of young Bramptonians who pursued post secondary education outside of Brampton and then came back home. The familiar part of the story is that they came home to a culture that did not provide the collaborative environment of university, or nurture the entrepreneurial spirit of young people. Not to mention a weak job market for young graduates, and general malaise of life in suburban Brampton. However, instead of complaining, sitting around, or abandoning ship for greener pastures in another city, these young people had an idea, took a chance, worked hard, and established their start up in Brampton. Now Brampton has a legitimate co-working space for dynamic young leaders of various disciplines to link up and build. Even if it may not have been the main objective, the team at Lab•B have become the straight up vanguards for the future of Brampton. They have provided hope, leadership, and most importantly a venue for ideas and collaboration to happen in Brampton.
One new business in Brampton may not change everything, but it is a fantastic start. There was barley any real start ups in Brampton 3 years ago, now a handful of burgeoning start up businesses are rising all over Brampton, and young people are leading the charge. Everyone agrees that the future of the city depends on driven, engaged, young people creating their own opportunities and therefore creating opportunity for the growth of Brampton. However, it has been very difficult for Brampton to incubate or sustain these types of efforts, that tide is turning with Lab•B. What makes this moment special is that there are physical manifestation of a new vision for Brampton, a place where people are invested and engaged in the effort to make a better life for themselves and the community. There are so many undiscovered connections and opportunities to be had, it is a great time to be in Brampton!
So, if you're reading this, and you: care about Brampton, have good ideas, are an artist, want to get involved somehow, want some business advice, or just want to link with like-minded cats in Brampton, Lab•B is the place for you! Be sure to link up with the great team over there and they will fill you in on how to get involved with the movement. The team is still in start-up stage and are very eager to connect with new people with great vision. They have already created a positive change in Brampton in such a short time, one can only imagine where Brampton will be 4 years from now.
...what are you waiting for?
What are you waiting for?!?!?!
What are you waiting for?!?!?!?!!!
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!?!?!!??!?
**jda out**
JDA is a #BramptonRises kinda guy! He just ended that article with a misguided "Scary Movie" reference. Follow him on twitter @Jibbyville.
No comments:
Post a Comment