Dale Duncan at City Hall: March 8, 2007

The Scarborough guy

“I’m a small ‘C’ conservative and a small ‘L’ liberal,” Councillor Michael Thompson tells me when I ask where he sees himself on the political spectrum. “People ask me about that all the time.”

This doesn’t come as a surprise, really. The controversial councillor hit the ground running when he was first elected in 2003, aggressively pushing an anti-gang and anti-gun agenda well before Toronto’s media proclaimed 2005 “the year of the gun.” His outspokenness garnered him nationwide attention when he suggested the police be allowed to stop and search black youth at random, an idea he later described as an off-the-cuff remark that shouldn’t be tried. He has openly supported former police chief Julian Fantino as well as more cash for cops and a helicopter to boot. But observe the current divisiveness on council and you won’t find him proudly claiming membership to one team or the other. “If there’s a pragmatic spectrum, I’m there,” he says, pointing to his support for a $10 minimum wage as example of the sort of lefty leanings that balance him out.

This term, he’s out to prove he’s not a one-trick pony. “I don’t want to be viewed as just a crime guy,” he admits.

It’s time for Thompson to rebrand and, if all goes according to plan, come year-end, he’ll be known as Scarborough Guy. “I live and breathe Scarborough; I’m really passionate about Scarborough,” he says with enthusiasm that could probably only be outdone by his fellow Scarberian and master of hyperbole, Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker.

“Scarborough is half the population of Toronto [actually more like a quarter — Ed.], but there is a tendency to view it as a lesser part of Toronto,” he says. One of his many pet projects is to create a performing arts centre in the former municipality. “We need to establish an incubator,” he argues. “It engages people and sends a real signal to members of the community that there’s a sense of hope and pride.”

The terms Scarberia and Scarlem aren’t part of Thompson’s vocabulary. He seems hesitant, in fact, to say anything negative about his home turf, which is curious since Scarborough is not without its challenges; take the sprawling subdivisions filled with homes far from amenities such as community centres, and families aching for reliable public transit that comes within a five-minute walk of their front door. Instead, he seems to prefer the role of unabashed promoter — “If you ask me, ‘Was it well thought out?’ I’d say, based on the times, it was the best that people could do,” he says, adding, “There’s much to celebrate in terms of having space.” Instead of talking about Scarborough as something that has to be fixed, he talks about it as a piece of Toronto that should be enjoyed.

Having established the Taste of Lawrence street festival in his own ward, Thompson has plans in the works to launch “Taste Scarborough” this summer. “We need to enhance opportunities available in Scarborough,” he says. “We need to do strip-mall tours!”

The borough of love?

“You don’t take your first date to a garbage dump, or somewhere boring,” Glenn De Baeremaeker told the Toronto Star on Feb. 24. True enough. His plan for Scarborough includes making it not just date-worthy, but first-date-worthy: “I’ve said from day one as a councillor, I want people to go out on dates here. It’s been one of my mantras with my staff.”