It’s election season, but the focus for Spacing this week is not on the shenanigans of Ottawa politicians, but on the upcoming city elections just under a year away. City Councillor Jane Pitfield announced she is going to run for mayor of Toronto in the 2006 municipal elections. This makes us at Spacing quite happy. Why? Well, Spacing is planning for a mayoral debate, and a viable candidate to challenge Mayor Miller makes the debate worthwhile. And this is as good of a time as any to announce that the Spacing Fall 2006 issue will be focused primarily on public space issues that are also election issues.
CTV News was the first to report her announcement; The Toronto Sun’s Sue-Ann Levy does her neo-con best to frame the debate (she refers to Miller supporters as a “cast of socialist sycophants”); and Don Wanagas of NOW reports on the possibilities of the mayoral race (pre-Pitfield announcement).
We will release more info in the coming months about our election coverage. Spacing will be seeking input from our readers on what public space issues are most important to you, and what questions you’d like the mayoral candidates to answer. One question I’d submit would be why is Pitfield in support of garbage incineration here in Toronto. I can bet she won’t be volunteering the ward she represents for the site of the garbage burning plant. Let’s leave that to wanna-be mayoral candidate and meat-head Rob Ford.
