Swansea Area All Candidates Meeting

Well since I'm living in the Bloor West Village / High Park area I decided to wander down to the Toronto Ward 13 all candidates meeting. I'm not normally a political junkie, in fact this is the first time I've ever attended a candidates meeting.

The first thing I noticed after picking my seat in the Swansea Town Hall was the small crowd. There were probably only about 40 people in there at 7:25 for an event that was supposed to start at 7:30. A few more people trickled in but I'd say that the number never exceeded 60.

The evening started with two mayoral candidates. It was pretty much immediately clear to everyone that these candidates didn't really believe they are going to have an impact on this election. Seems they just wanted a way to express their own point of view. I didn't even catch their names so if anybody wanted to vote for the guy whos platform ideas included euthanizing the homeless, you're out of luck.

The candidates for city councillor that showed up for the evening were, in the order they arrived and spoke: Greg Hamara, David Garrick, Bill Saundercook, Frances Wdowczyk and Aleksander Oniszczak.

All the candidates got 3 minutes to introduce themselves and their key platform policies. Here is my short "Blink" take on the candidates.

Hamara: I kept falling asleep, but I liked his assertion that Runnymede and Bloor was the "best example of a bad example" for an intersection with poor pedestrian safety. I take it that he prefers Jane an Bloor as a worst example of a good example?
Garrick: Kept me awake with lines like "Consultants borrow your watch to tell you the time then forget to give it back"
Saundercook: The smoothest presentation but what does it mean?
Wdowczyk: Seems very nice and was able to arouse a passionate crowd response.
Oniszczak: I just couldn't figure out what his name was until I looked it up later. Strongly against graffiti. I love to bicycle so his plea of safer bike lanes is a hit with me but could he be effective on all issues for the area?

The questions from the floor seemed to focus mainly on growth and development and how it will affect the community. It sounded to me like the majority of people at the meeting were of the opinion that development should be curbed.

I'm not sure I'm any wiser but it was an interesting experience and I may even drag myself out to the next candidates meeting that will be hosted by the Bloor West Village Residence Association on Wednesday November 8th, 7:30 pm (doors open at 7:15) at Runnymede United Church (Basement).