Sunday, October 24, 2010

Builder or Divider?

Former Toronto mayor, David Crombie, during a radio show earlier this month discussing Toronto's mayoralty race, commented that people "want to know you are a builder, not a divider." That really struck me as I considered our own Peace River mayoralty race between incumbent Iris Callioux--a builder par excellence and Lorne Mann--a former mayor better known for dividing than building.

Last Monday, voters chose Mann over Callioux by a small margin. In his first public appearance as incoming mayor at last night's Peace River & Region Chamber of Commerce Davis Awards, Mr. Mann unleashed his well-known insulting sense of "humour," which had been kept largely under wraps during the campaign. This embarrassing performance, geared more towards tearing down than building, marred the evening of celebration of excellence in local employees and business.

During his often rambling speech, Mr. Mann mentioned the challenge of following our MLA and Solicitor-General Frank Oberle's excellent presentation, and observed how Oberle's political career had "rocketed past" his own. If last night is any indication (and I sincerely hope it is not), three years out of power don't seem to have helped Mr. Mann gain any insight into why this may be.

Our community has many challenges ahead as it continues to find its place in the region and in the increasingly urban Alberta landscape. I hold out hope that if our mayor cannot, then the rest of Peace River's Council will work hard to provide this crucial building element at the local, regional, provincial and national level.
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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I am sensing perhaps some bitterness? You are entitled to your opinion, however you should be respectful of what the majority of the community have decided is best for them. By criticizing the choice of the community, would that not be considered being critical of the community?