A New Hope That Brampton Rises

For the first time in 14 years there has been a changing of the guard in Brampton.

Former Liberal MPP and cabinet minister Linda Jeffrey decisively defeated scandal plagued incumbent Susan Fennell in a much buzzed about election. Former city councillor John Sanderson showed valiant campaign effort and made strong enough of an impression to be the official runner up. However, Mr. Sanderson was not able to fully distance himself from the stigma of the Fennell administration. Ms. Fennell finished in a disappointing 3rd place.

The various scandals in which Ms. Fennell was embroiled, the lack of progress in Brampton, and a general 14 year itch for political change all contributed to Ms.Fennell's precipitous decline in this election. Even though Brampton may not agree now, Ms. Fennell had a decent, dare I say, impressive run.

She led the city through a phase of unprecedented growth, there was a highway 410 expansion, improvements in public transportation, and we got a new hospital all under Fennell's leadership. However, complacency kicked in, mistakes were made, and the administration simply exploited a broken and disengaged system to pull some "fast ones" on unsuspecting Bramptonians. The City Hall expansion and the Rose Theatre come to mind, we're going to be paying for those projects for a very, very long time.

Whatever, we must move on. We now have a new person in Brampton to lead the city in a new direction. How reassuring. So now what?