An agenda
The most prominent fact about Liberal candidate Glen Murray is one which I consider the most boring and mundane. Policy, bright ideas, causes, not so much, but he’s gay and while this may have a certain cache in Winnipeg it really doesn’t count for much in downtown Toronto.
The Toronto Star has a puff piece on him in today’s edition. Murray talks a great but there is never appears to be any substance in what he says. For example, he tells us we have to be greener or he wants to put a key to a place to live for every person in the riding which is all well and good but he never tells to us how he actually proposes to do it. Its one thing to say we need to be ‘greener’ and another to explain how to go about it. Ditto on the key. And if Murray wants to get beyond being the political professional gay candidate – my advice would be to stop talking about being gay.
What you really need to know about Glen Murray the politician is what he won’t do. Steve Paikin, host of TVO’s the Agenda, blogged about it recently when The Agenda attempted to host a Toronto-Centre debate with the candidates running for the provincial seat in the current election. Then a funny thing happened. Liberal nominee Glen Murray baulked and dropped out. So in the hopes of filling out the show TVO producers decided to fill the seats with a couple of urban experts to fill out the panel. Conservative party nominee Pamela Taylor then decides a grilling is too much and declines – apparently quite rudely. End result, Cathy Crowe is the last of the big three standing but The Agenda shelves the debate.
Glen Murray is seen as the ‘front-runner’ given his predecessor was Liberal George Smitherman who resigned his seat to throw his hat into the ring in the upcoming mayor’s race for the city of Toronto. So what would make wannabe MPP Glen Murray give up an opportunity to promote himself? I suspect it has more to do with the Provincial Liberal record is a bit of baggage he finds too heavy to carry under the public eye in a debate. Or who knows, maybe he is finding his claim to fame as a former mayor of Winnipeg carries few brownie points to the voters of Toronto-Centre and decided the less seen and heard the better. I suspect he hopes the Liberal brand is all he needs to represent us – so why rock the entitlement vote, and who knows? He might even be right.
I know the NDP did a very smart thing by nominating Cathy Crowe as their candidate. She’s a high profile figure in this riding for almost the last twenty years with impeccable street creds and a resume filled with accomplishments. She’s also been very visible in electioneering in this riding and the NDP made it very hard for me not to vote for her. This is a case of the candidate overcoming my distaste for the party platform. The one thing I know for sure about Cathy Crowe, win or lose, she will still be showing up in Toronto-Centre the day after the election to work to improve the lives of those who live in the riding. Can the same be said for Glen No-Show Murray.
