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EDITOR'S DESK

Go, Hortencia, go!

by Judi McLeod

November 3, 2003

Leave it to little Hortencia Fotopoulos to come along just in time to resurrect my waning interest in complicated municipal elections.

Discouraged by the all but impossible task for newcomers to topple incumbents and further disillusioned that elected councillors are such a dismal lot, I wasn’t as interested as usual in this year’s election race.

When she telephoned last summer to tell me she was running in 18, the ward vacated by Coun. Mario Silva, now off to the greener pastures of the next federal election, I gave the first-time candidate a lecture. "You can’t do it unless you knock a lot of doors like Mario did. You’re going to need a lot of signs and excellent brochures."

The lecture stemmed from my frustration with other newcomers in municipal elections over the years. They were always full of passion in the beginning, but too ready to give up when they more fully realized the hard work involved.

Months later when I happened to be passing through Ward 18, I was thrilled to see all the Hortencia Fotopoulos signs.

Then when I spotted her name among candidates endorsed by local police, I gave a silent cheer.

Though Mario Silva would be loathe admitting it, Toronto Free Press known then as Our Toronto, went a long way to get him elected.

"Your councillor doesn’t live in your ward, he only visits it by city limousine," TFP wrote of the 30-year incumbent who was Silva’s opponent in then Ward 3.

This was back in the days of the old city of Toronto, when it was far easier to bring to the attention of the voters, the assorted sins of seated ward councillors. Now that megacity has 44 civic politicians, including the mayor, it is much more difficult to find accountability.

In the last election with hundreds of newcomers offering themselves up for public office, 43 incumbents were returned to city hall. The only ‘newcomer’, Sandra Bussin, came up through the ranks of the local school board to take over a council seat in the Beaches.

The 2003 municipal election marks the first time so many incumbents left open seats available for newcomers.

The best of the newcomers. in my books is Hortencia Fotopoulos. Born in the Azores, Hortencia is married to a husband of Greek descent. The couple has a daughter in university of whom they are so proud.

There are many reasons why I find myself rooting for the candidate in Ward 18. A former bank officer and restaurant owner, she’s been involved in community politics in Toronto since the mid-1980s. Toronto Free Press and Our Toronto before it crusaded for years that there are not enough business people represented on city council.

Never one to give up on any cause where she can conceivably make a difference, the feisty Hortencia has been a well-read columnist in the Portuguese newspaper, Nova Ilhas and is vice-president, financial at the Toronto-based Casa Dos Acores.

Among the key issues for her heart-and-soul campaign are the high property taxes facing homeowners and commercial property owners in Toronto. "These high taxes are also causing rents to climb," she says.

The all-business Hortencia says the TTC must be more innovative in attracting more riders, and understands how important the TTC, clean streets and safety are. She believes in investing in our police force so that crime can be prevente--not just punished.

There is a story behind Hortencia and me. It was a long time ago when office staff told me a persistent woman, who happened to be unknown to me, was most anxious to talk to me "for even 10 minutes."

Her name was Hortencia Fotopoulos and she had a problem with a bank that had somehow ended up with her father’s antique pocketwatch. When we met with her, Private investigator Bill Joynt and myself were impressed indeed with the passion and resolve of this stranger, who Joynt described at the time as, "a pint-sized fighter".

When I asked Hortencia why she had come to me, she said, "Because I recognized a fighter when I read one."

So it seems almost like poetic justice that, just at the moment when I was ready to give up on municipal elections, Hortencia came back to find me again.

No matter how bleak the municipal hustings, there will always be one or two worth fighting for.

Hortencia, no matter what happens on election night, thank you for returning me to where I should be: at the municipal election front.

Meantime, until Nov. 10, my prayer will be: "Go, Hortencia, go!"

Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com


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