Vote and get out the vote for John Tory!

John Tory is the Caribbean Camera’s candidate of choice for the highest office in the City of Toronto. This is a position of responsibility for which he is fully prepared.

He is the one best placed to bring a balanced platform of policies, programs and projects. He, more so than any other candidate, has the managerial experience and the capacity to build consensus among City Councillors. His long years of community service have earned him the credibility required to unite all segments of society. Equally important is the fact that he has the confidence and support of the business community, an important player in the City’s determination to achieve sustained and equitably shared economic development

With just one week left before Election Day, we cannot close our eyes and hope for the best. This is still be a very close mayoral race in which the three-way split among the leading candidates can be a critical game changer.

First and foremost, therefore, we ourselves must get out and vote. Then we must also encourage others to vote. The larger the turnout of voters, the better the chances of a fair and just result that truly reflects the wishes of the majority of Torontonians. Abstention favors the less desirable candidates who win by default.

It is not too late to keep hammering at the issues. Those who aspire to be our School Trustees, our City Councilors or our Mayor owe us explanations, policy statements and commitments that we can understand clearly and put on their record so as to hold them to their “promises”.

This election is about our City’s business. It should not be about any Nation’s candidate from the Kingdom of Etobicoke nor about the legacy of his royal family. The “Anybody but Ford” call for strategic voting is a morbid distraction.

A week is a long time in politics.

Now, a word of caution. Let us not forget that the Elections and the new Mayor are only part of the process of finding solutions for the challenges we face here in Toronto. Elections and a new Mayor cannot save us from ourselves.

It remains our responsibility as Torontonians to ensure that for the next four years we make our best efforts to “Climb every mountain”. We must also ensure that we do not have to “Ford every stream” in the same way that we did when we waded through the last four years of disastrous floods offloaded on us by the rather rambunctious river of a particularly toxic Royalist Nation.

Unless we ourselves step up to the plate, assume our own responsibilities and hold our School Trustees, Councillors and our new Mayor accountable, we will not progress.

At this crucial juncture, our society yearns for City Council to show leadership, responsibility, stability and civil discourse focused on the needs and concerns of our residents.

That is why you must vote and get out the vote for John Tory!