The Scarborough guy<\/strong><\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/www.toronto.ca\/councillors\/photos\/mthompson.jpg\")
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I’m a small ‘C’ conservative and a small ‘L’ liberal,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Councillor Michael Thompson tells me when I ask where he sees himself on the political spectrum. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153People ask me about that all the time.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
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 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the year of the gun.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d 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. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If there’s a pragmatic spectrum, I’m there,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he says, pointing to his support for a $10 minimum wage as example of the sort of lefty leanings that balance him out.<\/p>\n
This term, he’s out to prove he’s not a one-trick pony. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I don’t want to be viewed as just a crime guy,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he admits.<\/p>\n
It’s time for Thompson to rebrand and, if all goes according to plan, come year-end, he’ll be known as Scarborough Guy. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I live and breathe Scarborough; I’m really passionate about Scarborough,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he says with enthusiasm that could probably only be outdone by his fellow Scarberian and master of hyperbole, Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Scarborough 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,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he says. One of his many pet projects is to create a performing arts centre in the former municipality. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We need to establish an incubator,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he argues. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It engages people and sends a real signal to members of the community that there’s a sense of hope and pride.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
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 — \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If you ask me, ‘Was it well thought out?’ I’d say, based on the times, it was the best that people could do,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he says, adding, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153There’s much to celebrate in terms of having space.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d 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.<\/p>\n
Having established the Taste of Lawrence street festival in his own ward, Thompson has plans in the works to launch \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Taste Scarborough\u00e2\u20ac\u009d this summer. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We need to enhance opportunities available in Scarborough,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he says. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We need to do strip-mall tours!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
The borough of love?<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You don’t take your first date to a garbage dump, or somewhere boring,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d 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: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I’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.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Scarborough guy \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I’m a small ‘C’ conservative and a small ‘L’ liberal,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Councillor Michael Thompson tells me when I ask where he sees himself on the political spectrum. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153People ask me about that all the time.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d This doesn’t come as a surprise, really. The controversial councillor hit the ground running when he was firstContinue reading “Dale Duncan at City Hall: March 8, 2007”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1022,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21759],"tags":[4866,408,331,35,905,4865,4867,3154,1938,22085,89,339,19,341,391],"class_list":["post-1612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","tag-controversial-councillor","tag-councillor","tag-dale-duncan","tag-dale-duncan-columns","tag-glenn-de-baeremaeker","tag-julian-fantino","tag-mall-toursae","tag-michael-thompson","tag-police-chief","tag-politics","tag-scarborough","tag-the-toronto-star","tag-toronto","tag-toronto-star","tag-usd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDale Duncan at City Hall: March 8, 2007 - Spacing Toronto<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2007\/03\/08\/dale-duncan-at-city-hall-march-8-2007\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dale Duncan at City Hall: March 8, 2007 - Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Scarborough guy \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I’m a small ‘C’ conservative and a small ‘L’ liberal,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Councillor Michael Thompson tells me when I ask where he sees himself on the political spectrum. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153People ask me about that all the time.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d This doesn’t come as a surprise, really. 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![](\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/images\/dale-duncan-cityhall.jpg\")
<\/p>\n