Press Conference in Mississauga by Mayoralty candidates

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Sept. 23, 2010
The first Press Conference in Mississauga by
the Mayoralty candidates,
at the Living Arts Centre.

Special thanks to Bryan Hallett for all his efforts in making this Press Conference so successful & educational.

Other handouts etc:

As in any political situation where people with strong opinions meet and try to work together for a common cause,
its a simple plan that doesn't go as planned.
Candidates need an election platform from the Mayor & all candidates, all City debates - broadcasted.
Years of dealing with the City has ingrained the simple lesson - put it in writing!
So I drafted a letter to the Mayor and to the City Clerk for Council Agenda, added items that felt should go in it to cover all the bases in one letter.
Delivered it before the Press Conference and handed copies out, other candidates did not like parts, like repeating concerns that other media has expressed about Hazel's age and health. Boy the press jumped on that - why? In the years since the last election I have noted in other parts of the world proof that a older candidate is in good health is offered up, not even asked for. Hazel McCallion will be 90 years old in a few short months and yet people act like she is just getting better with age - how can people even think that?
None the less, felt very inspired about what was the core issue in this election and also drafted haft a page to sum it up.
It cuts to the bone - fan of Hazel - don't read.

City of Mississauga
ATTN: Her Worship Mayor - Hazel McCallion.
ATTN: All members of Council.
ATTN: Crystal Greer - City Clerk - for election staff & the next City Council Agenda.

RE: Challenge to the City of Mississauga and elected officials.

Her Worship Mayor & Members of Council: Sept. 23, 2010

Given how important the 2010 election is to the future of Mississauga, in this critical transitional period, that voters and candidates alike need the facts to fully evaluate the issues and candidates before voting - the City of Mississauga & the Mayor is challenged to provide the following information or services.

1). Candidates have open access to the City’s budget staff to fully understand and have their questions answered regarding the City’s finances.

2). That the City should assist in every way to ensure all candidates meetings in every Ward and more then one if possible. Including a City wide all-candidates for Mayor candidates, to be televised and
which should be at City centre.

3). The Mayor provide a full and detailed platform
(as should all Councillors seeking re-election).

4). That the City make public all law suties, past and present which name the City and the Mayor, their costs, claims, pay-outs and at what stage is the Mantella suite that notes the Mayor’s abuse of power.

5). That it be made public, by way of a doctors report, the state of the Mayor’s health and likelihood of her being able to fully service the next 4 year term. Especially given the fact, a by-election for just the office of Mayor would cost between 1.8 and 2 Million of taxpayers dollars.

6). The fully disclosure the details regarding 675352 Ontario Limited, Macran Associates Limited, the McCallion family holdings referred to in the Apr. 23, 1982 Toronto Sun article (Mississauga gold rush), any McCallion involvement in the land purchased by Triple Five Corp. (Ghermezian) and any other McCallion business deals/companies that could be questioned because of the Mayor’s involvement.

Some thoughts for the 2010 election;

Letter to the Editor - RE: A Mother & Son story in Mississauga - Aug. 16, 2010

There are things more important than money and those running the Mississauga Judicial Inquiry should factor this in - there is a family’s love (of money) and sons effort to live up to his mother expectations. After hearing about the new Sheridan College campus in Mississauga (ironically a business school), on the lands that are at the center of the Inquiry, I had to visit. Well, it is going up like a weed in the City center and as I walked around it struck me why Peter McCallion was so hell bend and determine to see the hotel/condo project through - his mom could see it from her office window! Yes, the Mayor of Mississauga can look out every day and see the “crowning achievement” of her realtor son and maybe she will stop asking if he is working when she sees him. Never underestimate the desire of a son to give their mom what she wants - even if it is a 4 star hotel in the middle of her City or at least that was the plan till reality got in the way. Its location, location, location. That would also explain Peter’s motive to keep pesky little business details from the Mayor, he wanted to surprise her. well lad, it been a royal surprise for all of us and getting your picture on the front page in Sunday best black suite was a nice touch as well. Need we look further than the human element of a son seeking approval in dear old (Hurricane), Hazel’s eyes? Then there is the McCallion inside joke as further proof the innocence nature of this Mothers day gift. The name of company Peter started - World Class Development. If Hazel has said it once she has done it a thousand times referred to City staff as “World Class”. So her son becomes a key player in a “World Class Development” company, that was to deliver what Hazel wanted to make Mississauga a world class City. The simplest minded explanation is usual the mostly convenient.

To sum up the choice Mississauga voters are presented with - give her Worship the requested blank cheque again, without consideration to a citizens responsible to make an informed decision before casting the ballot or consider how recent discoveries affect the realities of electing a person to public office. The Mayor has given sworn testimony that she is either greatly impaired or incompetent as to how business and proper governance is conducted. Yet she still presents herself as having the necessary leadership skills, judgement, knowledge and wisdom regarding how Municipal government must be lawfully orchestrated to avoid costly errors to taxpayers. Further more, are we still to believe that she can be trusted as to how one in that office, exercises its power, commands the respect given to it and instill in the majority of Canadians the perception of good and fair governance being undertaken?

As voters are legally her judge regarding how she has used the power granted to her in the past, what of the future? To do our homework, to be prepared, the facts are needed and not threat this election as just another popularity contest. The request for a detailed platform is a logical and reasonable one, to be expected in any Major City Mayoralty election, especially given the current circumstances
- why is this even an issue?

To do otherwise, is the Mayor avoiding her responsibilities to Mississaugans and the Democratic principles so many have fought for. In this critical transitional period for Mississauga, we should not take anything on blind faith or past performance - for we can be certain it can not be repeated - that time had past!

Also bearing in mind that Hazel’s greatest claim of accomplishment, City finances, now reveals a sobering reality, that Mississauga went from having hundreds of millions in the bank to being in debt in a year, if not already, and being unable to pay for need infrastructure repair and maintenance in the future without greater tax increases. A far cry from the foolish glory days of zero tax hitches.

The secondary message was that taxes are going up - they should be as they are and worse to come.
The media really didn't care to hear that when they can jump on person
suggesting an 89 year old Mayor has had her best days.
When was it decided that Mississauga's taxpayers didn't care about taxes?

Bryan Hallett

Press conference Mayoral Candidate 2010:

Good morning, ladies & gentlemen of the press and citizens of Mississauga.

We thank you for coming out on this wonderful day to hear our request for the interest of our beautiful city and its citizens of Mississauga

My name is Bryan Hallett and I am standing here with Donald Barber and George Winter and we are running for Mayor of Mississauga. Just to let you know, there were several others who would agree with us but preferred to back away and stay unnamed.

Why we called you out today is that we want to challenge Mayor Hazel McCallion in the name of Democracy? As citizens we have the right to call out Madame Mayor to an All Mayoral Candidate meeting to get her to present a detailed campaign platform in a televised debate to know what her intentions are and to see where she stands on the importance facing Mississauga? It was always said that Mississaugians are proud of their democracy, but never experienced or even practiced broadening our experiences.

We welcome the press to be at hand to bear witness to this historic event, so that we would know what to expect from her in the last four years of her term, if elected. We have lived under the cloud of McCallion, and people all coming to realize it is a time for a change. Hazel McCallion has done her job well in the past. In the eyes of most Mississaugians are coming to understand that the next four years are going to be transitional. We the mayoral candidates for Mississauga have asked for this press conference in respect for the citizens who want to be informed of their democratic right. Madame Mayor has not come out to address the issues in detail, and it was expressed that she doesn't have to in regard to what she is intending to do and express what would be in store for this major Canadian city. And that would be by way of presenting a platform and a serious debate to the people of Mississauga, who have expressed to me that they are confused and concerned as we are with the needless constant need for spending, rising of taxes, the miss-management and the misappropriate use of city resources for personal benefits. (For example as Mayor McCallion doesn't have a campaign office, so does she use her home or the mayoralty office?)

It was expressed that all she cares about is spending and more spending before her time is finally up and we wonder where does the money go? It should have gone to the infrastructure, community groups, while for years these groups have been led on with promises and have been let down.

(The army cadets, you know it was not Mayor Hazel McCallion while she brags that got the cadets the school. Yes, she put the motion forward, but it was the council by a unanimous vote that bought the school for the army cadets. Not saying much that they have to share it with three other cadets. Not like C.O.P.S. or police cadets when all chapters have their own halls where they get full support from both the RCA and Peel Regional Police that the City pays. However, this is another topic for another day.)

For more than a generation and a half Hazel McCallion has been the undisputed leader and visionary in the development of city building since 1978 and I have always looked up to her until now. And since I heard the news of the inquiry, like many, I found myself confused. A person so important and as a result many looking up to her, her worship can be consequently, deceitful telling everyone and taking credit for so much, when, in fact, it was mainly the council that should be credited for.

Anyhow, the point is that you the people of Mississauga have long forgotten what the truth looks like and I feel that someone needs to show you or lead you to it. I need you to open your eyes really take the time to look around you and see what is being done to this beautiful city we call home?

We are heading into a serious situation of debt when we really should not have, had to go there. We need to stop for a moment and think about it and pull ourselves back and begin fixing it before it gets too bad were it will take a long time to get out of. And the fix would be to raise the taxes on the residents of this city to make you pay for what she wants. While, so self-indulged in her world. She is not listening to you the people to see if this is what you really want? And not left wondering her intentions.

There are serious questions on, what our Mayor has left out so far in her campaign? She always brags about the past and what she wants to build for the future for entertainment and you people are so mesmerized by this that you forget about what is really important for today and the future, and it is our children! And their children.

A good Mayor will always stop, wait, listen and ask. Then, take in dare to what their people want? Subsequently, on the bases of political needs and not ones for own self-gratification, political legacy or immortality if you please.

Mayor McCallion believes that she does not need to explain anything to the voters and does not have to answer to you. Remember, Madame Mayor thinks she doesn't have to put forward a platform to show you her true intentions. Well, you know what? That is wrong and we need to come together and express it deeply.

(What you should be real asking her, where are the new businesses, manufactures and things that would make money for the city? What about you the people and what you want? What about helping the Immigrants with their ideas of a better life? What about welfare recipients and getting them back to work? What about the constant crimes on the rise and the need for more police while our officers today are becoming exhausted from being over worked? What about Child welfare? What about low income families that cant afford anymore rising of the taxes and no work? What about affordable housing? What about the young graduating students, the university, college students and getting them to work?)

My fellow citizens, I would ask, please reach out, call, e-mail or even send in your mail to your local Councillors and also contact your local news papers, radio and TV stations. Tell them your concerns and let's show the world that democracy isn't dead but very much alive and let it show here first in this great and beautiful city of our Mississauga and let us stand together for the Common Cause.

Thank you for your time and god bless.

Donald Barber

Lady & Gentlemen - in the 2010 Mississauga election it has become all to apparent that key elements are missing and given recent events, we should not sleep walk through this election as those in the past or just roll the dice and hope for a good outcome. To deal with the current situation there needs to be more public debates, at least one in each ward and a City wide on, televised, maybe from City hall. Key platform questions regarding what we can expect from the Mayority incumbent, should she be re-elected, need to be addresses. Issues like the taxes, financial mismanagement, transit, social services, accountability, right of access & involvement by the public, the on going liability of having the current Mayor and the list on the letter delivered to her.

There is a crisis of confidence & credibility in Mississauga, such that informed citizens rightfully question the true state of affairs in City hall and why they should be expected to blindly trust Team McCallion, voting her in for another 4 years of the same old, same old. Mississauga is the 6th., largest in Canada and yet our Mayor doesn’t feel that taxpayers are entitled to a detailed platform of what she has done and will to for Mississaugans. As recent revelations, by way of the Mississauga Inquiry have called into question Hazel McCallion’s judgement regarding how she does her business at and for the City, independent minded voters now seriously question other aspects of the Hurricane Hazel facade - as her actions being the opposite to what people would have believed a Mayor of her stature should have done, it opens the door to investigate all the other illusions and fables spun around Mississauga’s perfect Mayor.

Most items have the connecting thread of re-evaluation because of what the Mississauga Inquiry has revealed about how business is done at City hall. Voters are now willing to listen to the dissenters or those with a different vision of what should be - like taxes are the main issue taxpayers want to know the facts about.

No greater tale has been told then that of how Hazel handles Mississauga’s finances - debt free or so we are to believe - however Councillor Nando Iannicca summed it up best when he said in reference to City finances ... the City simply because all too often politicians throughout the world focus solely on the short term defined by when the next election might be. The shorted sighted and unsustainable policies has created what I refer to as the biggest Ticking Time Bomb we face.

The fact is the Mississauga has been living beyond its means for decades and most of the works being done around the City are not from City funds - we can’t afford to! Our elected officials will not deal with the problem of infrastructure until it is a crisis and huge tax raises are needed, worse could be on the way if that plan gets bit by reality. Hundreds of millions if not billions short for needed works and still there is the
claim of being debit free?

I say the Empress has no cloths.

George Winter

In the election campaign where he first won office as mayor of Toronto, David Miller used the prop of a broom to symbolize the “sweeping out of the old regime.” In Mississauga, I’ve always felt that I would need a street sweeper.

Hazel McCallion changes all the rules in an election campaign. Normally, one doesn’t mention an opponent in speeches or literature. In Mississauga, a candidate is usually greeted with “You’re running for Hazel’s job?”

I was asked if I was getting frustrated at not getting a fair shake with the 32-year mayor with the rock star popularity. I can honestly say I’m not. When I put my name forward as a candidate for mayor, I knew the lay of the land. Of course it’s not right, but it’s life in Mississauga. There’s a reason why higher profile potential candidates have stayed away from challenging Mrs. McCallion.

To change the mindset may take more than one election campaign. But it starts in this one.

The Mississauga Board of Trade doesn’t even consider that there’s an election going on while scheduling a “State of the Nation” speech with the mayor. An MTOB official told me that this is the time of year that the mayor's update is always delivered. Not surprisingly, in her speech Mrs. McCallion asked the business community to vote for councillors who can work with the mayor and to investigate the expenses of the inquiry. I have to believe that there were more than a few people in that room who shuddered at the gall.

The fact that mayoral candidates in Canada’s sixth largest city have to hold a press conference to call for a televised debate speaks volumes. I join a number of candidates for mayor in Mississauga in this request.

I also ask that all 17 candidates be offered the opportunity to participate. While some of Mrs. McCallion’s “chosen” candidates wear buttons that say ‘Mississauga – One City, One Voice,’ she has to accept that we live in Mississauga – One City, Many Voices.

We have had one voice for too long. Perhaps it’s time to start up that street sweeper.

Notes about this event;

Having been kicking around Mississauga for many a year, know how the City like to pull the rug out from under people.
If it is known that there will be a protest or event the City or its politicians would not like the publicly of, a day or so before announcement that in so way the circumstances have change - often taking wind out of peoples sails. This was set out the day before -
"From Mississauga Residents' Associations Network (MIRANET), Sept 22, 10:19 pm,
Dear Mayoral Candidates:

We are hearing from various Mayoral campaigns asking whether MIRANET will be hosting any debates for the candidates,
and want to keep all of you apprised at the same time.

MIRANET has been having discussions with Rogers TV concerning the provision of a televised All-Candidates Forum. We are not yet in a position to announce the date, as we are awaiting confirmation from Mayor McCallion that she would be able to attend one of the possible dates we have suggested.

We are planning to provide a moderated format that will allow for serious discussion and debate on several key themes affecting the future of our City.

MIRANET is non-partisan, and does not endorse any candidate. We are all citizen volunteers.
We will strive to provide a respectful forum where the choices before the electorate can be distinguished.

We'll issue formal invitations to all the Mayoral candidates as soon as we are able.

Sincerely, Dorothy"

Hazel McCallion is quoted by the Mississauga News as saying -
"Whatever’s arranged by the citizens and the ratepayers’ groups, I’ll be there. I’ll be glad to debate."
However, Dorothy Tomiuk at MIRANET writes - "We are not yet in a position to announce the date, as we are awaiting confirmation from Mayor McCallion that she would be able to attend one of the possible dates we have suggested."

To which I replied - "Dear MIRANET Having been to many of these debates over the years and given the serious importance of this election regarding the future of Mississauga - it would not be appropriate to just call yourselves "non-partisan"
and then set the rules so they favour a certain kind of candidate.

There should be agreement with candidates as to how this forum is set-up and run and the reasons made clear.
Its location is important, maybe City hall - people should know this is a historical event.

As for the Mayor being available - she needs to make the time or, as in the past, not be a part of it,
sick of her honouring our Democratic traditions by using election time as vacation time."
&
"What dates are being suggested ????
From what I see, the only person/candidate MIRANET cares about in regards to if they can attend on a certain date is Hazel McCallion.
Does this mean MIRANET will also be setting the rules of the debate so they satisfy the Mayor as well?
As MIRANET does business with the City and it is a well known fact that to do business with the
City of Mississauga, you have to be on the Mayor's good side other candidates wonder just how far this can go.

Now would be a good time to put to all candidates the dates and the draft rules and location."

MIRANET has yet to reply.

Global TV - expressed the opinion that is I was videoing their videoing of me they would not come and that applied to more then just I (muse).
They came late and then their coverage was less than accurate. Don't ever think they are compelled to report in a totally unbiased fashion.

If you are planning to hold a news conference then here are some hints.
You will be asked for a news release, copy of your speech and what ever else supports what saying.
Be really to stand facing the sun and a wind blowing your hair around.
Having a podium is a good idea.
Bring your own photographer.

Free kittens
Need a good home!

Can you see some of the big joke around City hall?
It is the flags that advertisement Sheridan College - on the same location where Hazel's son failed to build the 5 Star Hotel for his dear sweet Mom!

Mississauga City hall in the background as media starts to arrive.

The set-up and the lady to the left background is a Sheridan College BLOGER.

It was a sunny day when the men in black came out.
Candidates for Mayor of Mississauga, the left, Bryan Hallett & on the right, George Winter.
Donald Barber taking the picture and Ram Selvarajah E-mailed his regards & support.
{"Hi Don /George & Brian - I support you in your call for Hazel McCallaion to put forward her vision and to debate it with the rest of the candidates. - Unfortunately, due to work commitments I am unable to attend. - Together we can!!!"}

Bryan Hallett speaks first.

Donald Barber makes his views known

Hay, is that my security back there?

George Winter address the media next.

	The one on one interviews and try to get a damaging quote and to divide us. They do their best to change the focus of the Press Conference and the story, by asking only certain questions.