Karen Stintz, TTC chair and member for Ward 16, has told Don Peat of the Toronto Sun that she will run for mayor in 2014. The online version of the story sets its posting at 11 p.m. Saturday evening. “I’m running,” Ms Stintz is quoted as saying on Friday. “I’m assembling a campaign team because I believe that elections are about choice and I want to be able to offer a choice to the people of Toronto.” The announcement seems to open the door for more — many more — candidates now that a main event of sorts has been set up between Ms Stintz and Mayor Rob Ford. The conventional view of this type of contest is that it may very well have the effect of electing left-wing candidate Olivia Chow. In this strategic view, the presumption is that Ms Stintz and Mr Ford could split the centre-right vote sufficiently to let Ms Chow come up the middle. Ms Chow has not yet declared, but she is widely thought to be readying a run. Other serious candidates might include John Tory, now a radio talk show host, who has said recently on the air that he is still thinking about running. Support for Ms Stintz on council will be substantial. It is clear that in 2010 Mr Ford had the backing of councillors like Ms Stintz, Jaye Robinson and John Parker. The same does not seem to be true today. Mr. Parker has stayed publicly neutral but some suspect that his appearance with Ms Stintz at events in his own ward suggests a sympathy for her ambitions. The TTC chair will have a stronghold in her residential locale of Lawrence Park, an area where ratepayers share the values of those in much of east central Toronto and South Bayview. Mr. Peat recalls that Stintz was Ford’s hand-picked TTC chair in 2010. She quickly found herself at odds with the mayor and his brother, Councillor Doug Ford. Don PeatKaren Stintz says she will run for mayor in 2014
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Karen Stintz, TTC chair and member for Ward 16, has told Don Peat of the Toronto Sun that she will run for mayor in 2014. The online version of the story sets its posting at 11 p.m. Saturday evening. “I’m running,” Ms Stintz is quoted as saying on Friday. “I’m assembling a campaign team because I believe that elections are about choice and I want to be able to offer a choice to the people of Toronto.” The announcement seems to open the door for more — many more — candidates now that a main event of sorts has been set up between Ms Stintz and Mayor Rob Ford. The conventional view of this type of contest is that it may very well have the effect of electing left-wing candidate Olivia Chow. In this strategic view, the presumption is that Ms Stintz and Mr Ford could split the centre-right vote sufficiently to let Ms Chow come up the middle. Ms Chow has not yet declared, but she is widely thought to be readying a run. Other serious candidates might include John Tory, now a radio talk show host, who has said recently on the air that he is still thinking about running. Support for Ms Stintz on council will be substantial. It is clear that in 2010 Mr Ford had the backing of councillors like Ms Stintz, Jaye Robinson and John Parker. The same does not seem to be true today. Mr. Parker has stayed publicly neutral but some suspect that his appearance with Ms Stintz at events in his own ward suggests a sympathy for her ambitions. The TTC chair will have a stronghold in her residential locale of Lawrence Park, an area where ratepayers share the values of those in much of east central Toronto and South Bayview. Mr. Peat recalls that Stintz was Ford’s hand-picked TTC chair in 2010. She quickly found herself at odds with the mayor and his brother, Councillor Doug Ford. Don Peat