October 13, 2003
Less than a month remains before the residents of Ontario go to the polls once again--this time to elect members of their municipal councils. In a city the size of Toronto, the mayor leads a government of more people than the population of most provinces and many countries and the mayor is the only government leader than residents directly elect. Contrary to the characterization that he is given in much of the media, Dalton McGuinty is not the "premier-elect" of the province of Ontario. Ontarians do not vote for a provincial premier or for the prime minister of Canada, and McGuinty’s name did not appear on any ballots outside of his own Ottawa riding. No one "elected" him to the top job; but Toronto residents will have an opportunity to directly vote for the city’s next chief magistrate.
Because the mayor is directly elected by the voters, should the health of the candidates be a factor in making the decision as to who will head the government of the city? While the health of candidates appears only to surface during presidential campaigns south of the border, it should be a factor in Toronto, in light of the city’s recent experience.
Current two-term Toronto mayor, Mel Lastman, contracted Hepatitis C while undergoing a blood transfusion in 1989. While the disease did not affect the early performance of his duties as mayor, in his last months in office, Lastman had all but disappeared from the scene. Lastman had been suffering from symptoms of hepatitis and from the effects of the medication he takes to combat it.
Lastman had spent a great deal of time out of the city — mostly in the warmer climes of Florida. At first he appeared to be imitating the former premier of New Brunswick, the late Richard Hatfield. When Disco Dick was confronted by the media and told that in one particular calendar year, he had spent more time in London and New York than he did in his own province, he shot back that he was elected to run New Brunswick and that nobody ever told him that he had to live there.
The Toronto media made little mention of Lastman’s many absences from the city because they knew, as the public later learned, that he was going south for medical reasons. And while he was in town, Lastman made many statements that were nothing less than an embarrassment to the people who had elected him to be mayor. While many dismissed these comments as simply "Mel being Mel", it will never be known whether or not some of the crazy statements that emanated from his lips were as a result of the effect of the medication that he is on.
In light of Toronto’s experience with Lastman, the health of the current crop of candidates to succeed him should be considered. John Tory, David Miller, and Tom Jakobek, appear to be okay. John Nunziata will never be okay, but he seems to be in good health. That leaves front runner, Barbara Hall.
During the last period of time that Hall was in the limelight; when she served as mayor of the pre-amalgamation city of Toronto between 1994 and 1997, Hall spoke slowly. It was said that she was going to take lessons to improve the quality of her speech. When she emerged at the start of the current campaign, the date of which might wind up before the courts, many have remarked that her speech appears to be even slower than when she left office six years ago. This leads to the question of whether or not Hall’s stilted speech is caused by a medical condition and if so, whether that condition will impair her ability to run the city if in fact she is successful in winning Toronto’s top job.
Torontonians deserve to know if the candidates who might end up in the mayor’s office, are physically capable of providing effective leadership during their term in office.