'The Mansion, The Mayor, & The Mission' or: A Conversation With The New Mayor On How Brampton Can Rise.

As I slowly crept past the imposing, yet stately manor, my mind and heart began to race.

"W.T.F?” I immediately thought to myself, “did Google maps betray me?” I reviewed my e-mail to confirm if this was indeed the correct address. It was.

photo credit: http://ataarchitectsinc.ca/

Alderlea House on 40 Elizabeth Street, owned by the City of Brampton, is a rare and invaluable part of Brampton's heritage. At over 7000 square feet, the "Italianate" style mansion is a sight to behold. Construction of the house went from 1865-1879. The year 1865, for the history aficionados, was 2 years before Confederation; I wonder how much construction was slowed by the bureaucracy of the newly established Canada? What were internet speeds like in 1867? Or better yet, I wonder if it was as controversial as a present “grand” Brampton landmark.

The original builder of the house was Peel MPP, Kenneth Chisholm (1829-1906), who was also a son-in-law of one of the founders of Brampton. However, he was forced to relinquish ownership of the house after having some personal financial issues. The Royal Canadian Legion bought the building in 1944 to use as their Brampton base, but eventually the city bought the house in 2002. Finally, after years of planning and development, the restoration of the 149-year-old heritage building is almost complete.

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However, Alderlea really wins once one discovers that Brampton gem we now call Gage Park, was once a part of the Alderlea property. Consensually Gage Park is a top destination in Brampton, and the city's oldest, most charming park. A place where my associates and I would spend malaise filled afternoons wondering, "what's the deal with Brampton?" And, "I wonder who owns that place?" as we would gaze at the mysterious, yet dignified Alderlea Manor just a few yards away.

Finally, I was entering the other side - so to speak. I was at the Alderlea House about to go inside for my first time. However, my assignment was not writing about the freshly restored heritage site; I was actually there to meet the person who had been elected to restore the entire city of Brampton. I was going to get an interview with Brampton's new mayor, Linda Jeffrey..

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"Welcome to my office," joked Ms. Jeffrey as we sat in the 'Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Pavilion' aka the main reception hall of Alderlea House. Inside, the décor was a beautiful mixture of modern renovation, yet meticulous efforts to preserve classic sensibilities. It boasts the grandiosity of "old-timey" architecture, blended with the modern minimalism apparent with prominent floor-to-ceiling windows that look out freely at Gage Park. It is really quite nice. When I inquire why Ms. Jeffrey and her team were occupying this space, she explained that her term as mayor had yet to begin. Alderlea would serve as her interim office until she assumed her actual office at City Hall on Dec 1. After that, Alderlea can be booked for your classy events starting spring 2015.

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Ms. Linda Jeffrey is a highly regarded veteran politician with over 2 decades of experience in municipal and provincial levels of government. On the night of October 27, 2014, the voters of Brampton overwhelmingly chose her to lead the city out of the dysfunction and controversy of the last regime. After 14 years of leadership under Susan Fennell, the people of Brampton finally rallied against complacency and made a change. Ms. Jeffrey represents a new hope for all residents in the city.

picture credit: Linda Jeffrey/Facebook

The first thing we talked about was the campaign itself. Ms. Jeffrey had deep reflections and sage advice about the most important campaign of her political career. "It was tough. It was a long campaign," she said, comparing the 8 month duration of the campaign to pregnancy. She spoke, "I'm very proud of [the campaign]. We ran a good campaign. We ran a clean, positive campaign, and we tried to talk about ideas. I was worried that it was going to be mired in personal issues and get ugly, and I think that's one of the things that make people turn away from political campaigns, particularly women, who don't want to hear about the personal issues." A very good point from Ms. Jeffrey, and one that I must admit is true. The mudslinging and scandal is appealing to some, and it does get the attention of many, but truly engaged people know it's a big distraction from the important issues. Ms. Jeffrey's actions showed that she was aware of that during her campaign.

When I asked if there was anything new she learned from this campaign, Ms. Jeffrey responded a bit unexpectedly: "I don't think I learned anything new about campaigning during this campaign. What I learned in my very first campaign is what I learned in this one: there are no shortcuts." She added, "you have to knock on doors, you have to really talk to people, you have to listen. Those are all lessons I learned in my first campaign back in 1991. There are no shortcuts."

This is an interesting piece of insight considering we live in an era of glorified shortcuts. Most of our modern lives are digital, therefore it's easy to feel engaged with instant gratification; however, people usually take the classical sense of engagement for granted. I've seen it first-hand "campaigning" for #BramptonRises. "#Hashtag+Brampton+Rises = duh?" I thought it was a simple, open ended idea; I thought it would be an easy sell. However, just like Ms. Jeffrey stated, there are no shortcuts. We have spent almost 3 years showing up to civic events, talking to people, and actively listening to what they have to say. In that process, we all realize that we all want the same thing. Ms. Jeffrey sums it up succinctly with the statement, "It's a marathon, not a sprint." It seems cliché, but the truth usually is. To have a real long term impact you have to make a real long term effort.

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Ms. Jeffrey has lived in Brampton since 1983, and her political career began in 1991. After years of active community involvement, the proud mother of 3 boys made an emotionally motivated decision to run for office. "I got mad," she responds when asked about why she initially got involved in politics. She relayed a bit of Brampton history about the death of former Mayor Ken Whillans in 1990, and the power vacuum his death created in the city. She was disappointed to find that most people who wanted to get involved "only cared about how much money they were going to make." She adds that, "I didn't want those people representing me because they don't seem to care about the community; they only cared about the pay cheque!" Her husband challenged her with the response "well, maybe you should run," to which she replied, "well, maybe I will run..." And that was how it started. Ms. Jeffrey then triumphantly adds, "I showed him, didn't I?" 

Hell yeah! Believe it or not, most great actions are sparked from something as simple as a question and a drive to "stick it to the haters." One may not want to believe that human nature is so basic, but it's literally 'human motivation -101'.

The concept of 'getting mad, then taking action' would become a recurring theme in Ms. Jeffrey's career. "I got mad at the province because they were hurting my community, and I had to go to that level to get certain things done for Brampton." I then asked her when and why she decided to return to municipal politics, Ms. Jeffrey says that various influential figures started to lobby for her to take a closer look at the leadership situation in Brampton: "I got mad again. I didn't like what was happening in Brampton, I was ashamed, I was embarrassed, and that's not the Brampton I know."

I add a question about the ostensible political hierarchy of Canada: municipal, provincial, and federal. Did Ms. Jeffrey consider moving up to federal after more than a decade of experience in each of the first two levels? She counters that even though it may "seem logical" to go to up to the federal level, she had a different view: "people think the most power is in the federal level, but a lot of the power for your day-to-day happiness, in your community, is at city hall." She continues, "if you can't get out of your driveway because the snow has blocked you in, you're unhappy. If a tree falls on your car during an ice storm, you're unhappy. If you can't get electricity in your home, you're unhappy. Those are all municipal types of issues, and they need to work." She concludes, "if you become one of 300 people in Ottawa, how do you fix things in Brampton? I can make a more direct impact here." Definitely a solid answer, and a confirmation of the overlooked importance of local issues. It's great to see someone with expertise, experience, and a legitimate passion for Brampton leading our city.

Among her most notable victories for Brampton include the billion-dollar Brampton Civic Hospital, and the currently under construction Peel Memorial Hospital. She espouses the long-term benefits that those massive projects will have, not only for the future of physical health of Brampton, but as a catalyst for economic growth, and the evolution of the city's reputation: "we're a high growth community, and we simply need better health care."

She goes on to add, "I would say, certainly, the province is headed in a new direction with regards to healthcare; we're trying to do more wellness and preventative work, and drive healthcare out to the community." The new Peel Memorial Hospital is supposed to be a flagship example of Ontario's new vision of a traditional health care centre.


This conversation naturally segued into a question about how our city is positioned with the future plans of the province. Ms. Jeffrey assures that "the province has made some decisions that are very beneficial for Brampton. I just want to find a way to leverage those good decisions."

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"Brampton is well positioned with the province because the people at the province will answer my phone calls." She answers bluntly, "I still talk with the Premier [Kathleen Wynn], and I still talk to my other colleagues at the province." She talks about her various close relationships in the province's administration: "they were sad I left, but they were thrilled that I was running." Even the Premier was apprehensive about letting her colleague, and close friend, go pursue other opportunities. However, the Premier eventually relented and gave Ms. Jeffrey her blessing to resign from her Provincial post and run for mayor of Brampton. The Premier did give Ms. Jeffrey one condition if she were to leave: "that I had to win."

Ms. Jeffrey's close relationship with the leaders of the provincial administration reassure me of a cohesive and responsive provincial government in dealing with a high growth community like Brampton. Ms. Jeffrey will leverage Brampton in the provincial picture and make sure our city is getting its due share of provincial attention. Unfortunately, due to ‘politics’, that wasn't always the case with the previous administration. However with a cohesive vision, open communication, and matching 4 year mandates for the provincial and municipal leaders in Ontario, I am assured Brampton will be seeing some positive changes very soon.

Before we had this interview, I asked a few associates and friends if they had any questions they would like to ask the mayor of Brampton, if they had the chance. Among the many somewhat misguided or unusable questions I received, there were some good ones. The questions that transcended through most respondents were consistently questions about Brampton's reputation. Brampton residents from various backgrounds and walks of life were all quite concerned with what they felt was a negative image of their city. They all wondered if Ms. Jeffrey was aware of the bad reputation, and what was her plan to change it?

"Yeah, I do," Ms. Jeffrey said, when asked if she knows about the negative buzz that surrounds Brampton. "There are a couple indicators as to why; but leadership matters." The shadowy dealings at city hall definitely didn't do much to boost outsider confidence in Brampton. "Every community we talked to felt isolated and felt city hall didn't speak for them. If you don't ever feel that the people at city hall speak for you, look like you, care about the same issues you do, then you're going to disengage." The lack of engagement in Brampton is a common theme, it came up again in this year’s election; people simply don't care in this city. We had a 36% voter turnout, which was a huge increase, but that's still almost 2 out of 3 who didn't engage. Ms. Jeffrey has good insight and ideas as to why that is and her plans to change it: "I think Brampton has been characterized as a sleeping community, in more ways than one." she admits. She then cheerfully adds, "I look forward to finding new ways to engage people in the process. I know they're busy, and they shouldn't have to keep looking over their shoulder to monitor what we're doing at city hall, but I want to make sure they know and they feel welcome - if they choose- to engage."

I also inquire on behalf of the emerging youth of Brampton, who, despite their varied and seemingly world class talents, as a whole, feel a dire hopelessness in their attempts in becoming successful in their city. Ms. Jeffrey completely gets this paradigm and understands the disparity in opportunities for young people in Brampton, especially when compared to regional neighbours. She is fully committed to remaking the city's image on that front: "I want them to grow here, I want them to stay here, I want them to want to be here." She makes one more jab at the departing administration: "I think it’s been in their best interests to divide and conquer all of our communities, but that's not my strategy."

Ms. Jeffrey finds another way to articulate her view on Brampton's negative reputation: "It hasn't been tied together. Brampton is like a patchwork quilt: we've got a lot of squares, but we haven't sewed them together, we haven't found a way to make them one."

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As we concluded our comprehensive and delightful chat, my mind started to race again. Was this the 'mission accomplished' moment for #BramptonRises? Was everything finally going to be okay in Brampton? Could we finally give our triumphant victory speech; preferably on an aircraft carrier? Was this the dawn of a new era in 'the B'?

Photo credit J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Yes, it is a new era in Brampton. No, our job of making the city better is not over, mission partially accomplished! Cancel the aircraft carrier! Brampton will certainly rise with better government and leaders, no doubt. However, more importantly, the city will rise and rise and rise with better engaged citizens! We have to think, act, and live #BramptonRises. I don't care who or what you think you are, if you live, or come from a city that is perceived as a toilet, that is an attack on your identity as a person. One can only play dumb for so long until you will inevitably feel slighted on behalf of someone else, if not yourself. Have you ever heard this typical hater Brampton myth:

"Brampton sucks, cause it's full of immigrants."

Very dumb, but really typical sentiment that lingers in hater circles. You should respond:

"Hey, wait a minute, some of my family and friends are immigrants! Living in Brampton is a culmination of their dreams, and years of hard work. F**k you, we are Canada!"


That may sound crass, but it is really that basic. So what if Brampton is 2/3 minorities? It doesn't make us any less of people. I don't engage with the lame and self-destructive attitudes that perpetuate negative myths and misconceptions. Our public, world class educations have taught us better. If you do engage in harbouring these ignorant attitudes; you are most likely a part of the problem. The ubiquitous, self-loathing, and suburban angst have to stop. Brampton is the 9th biggest city in Canada, and probably one of the finest places to live in the whole world. Take a poll of all 7 billion people on earth, about 6 billion+ would LOVE to have an opportunity to live and raise their families in a place like Brampton. I'm not going to list all the pro's of Brampton now, but anyone with even a basic of understanding of the world, knows exactly what I mean; this city, the entire country, is borderline heaven on earth, really think about it. It's our job to all keep it like that, and raise it to an even higher standard.

Despite being a great town, there have been struggles in Brampton. It's time we stopped falling for the idiotic 'blame the others' strategy on why Brampton has struggled. I mean, so what if we're a so called 'brown town', get back to work you clown! There's at least a billion more "brown" people in the world, so get used to it, real talk. And no, they won't go back to 'their country'. Fine, if you're a member of the indigenous populations of Canada, then maybe you can be excused for making such an absurd statement to all of us, but otherwise, try again loser.

The fear of the 'other' is rooted in older generations -on all sides- failing to communicate productively, refusing to embrace change, and holding an archaic world view. Most of the "United Nations of young people" I call friends were born in Canada, and all live and breathe 'Canadian values'. Sure some may look like the so called 'others' or 'minorities', but they literally have nowhere else. This is their home and native land, they ride and die for Canada, so get over it. This so called debate is tired and finished. We will always be Brampton, we will always be Canada, and most importantly we'll always be human, so please save your xenophobic rage for the inevitable alien/robot invasion.


The previous struggles of Brampton can be blamed on a variety of issues and factors all around. Mayor Jeffrey is person who acknowledges these complex issues and is taking a revolutionary top-down approach to address the issues that have plagued Brampton. As she stated earlier: "leadership matters," and Ms. Jeffrey is making herself accountable in creating and fostering a new way of doing things in Brampton. We will not repeat the mistakes of the past, we can't afford to. Ms. Jeffrey has pledged to make a more transparent, accountable, and engaged Brampton. She will obviously have executive powers, but she is open to listening to the concerns, hopes, and ideas of everyone who is willing to engage in the process to make Brampton better. Granting this interview with #BramptonRises was definitely a step in showing this commitment to engagement, and we look forward to continuing our mission to contribute to and develop a positive future for Brampton. Ms. Jeffrey is an ally and a big reason why #BramptonRises.

Now, my million dollar question to you is; what are you going to do to make Brampton better? The infrastructure for change is present, the time is right. You're smart, you're a good person, you have high self-worth, you're the best. So, what, the, "f" are you going to do for your community? All eyes on you. Oh, and when you figure it out, can you tell me please?

#BramptonRises all day/all night.


****JDA out****

JDA is a veteran of the Brampton scene and definitely a #BramptonRises kinda guy. Follow him on twitter @Jibbyville.

#BramptonRises is a platform founded in 2012 to engage, connect,and inspire the new leaders of Brampton. Like us on facebook. Follow us on twitter. #BramptonRises above and beyond. Don't believe me, just watch.