{"id":16313,"date":"2025-02-12T11:16:51","date_gmt":"2025-02-12T11:16:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/02\/12\/why-are-municipal-mayors-entering-the-ontario-election-race-with-endorsements\/"},"modified":"2025-02-12T11:16:51","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T11:16:51","slug":"why-are-municipal-mayors-entering-the-ontario-election-race-with-endorsements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/02\/12\/why-are-municipal-mayors-entering-the-ontario-election-race-with-endorsements\/","title":{"rendered":"Why are municipal mayors entering the Ontario election race with endorsements?"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Oakville, Ont., mayor Rob Burton stood on the floor of a manufacturing plant behind a podium with the blue and white words \u201cprotect Ontario\u201d emblazoned across the front.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThank you for the chance to express my personal view for whom I believe is best for the community I love, particularly for growth management,\u201d he said on Monday.<\/p>\n

Burton went on to endorse Progressive Conservative Party Leader Doug Ford, adding he was \u201cnot here on behalf of the municipality, as mayor.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a familiar formula for the PC campaign, which has seen several mayors from big and medium cities appear alongside Ford and offer him their endorsement.<\/p>\n

A flurry of leaders \u2014 representing places like Brampton, Barrie, Welland and Windsor \u2014 have all introduced Ford at campaign events and offered his party their personal support for a third majority government. The endorsements represent a small fraction of the province\u2019s 400-plus local leaders.<\/p>\n

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Mayors lending their support to a campaigning party leader is an unusual though not unheard of pattern in Ontario politics.<\/p>\n

Former Vaughan Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua told Global News it was an \u201cunwritten protocol\u201d that sitting politicians tend not to endorse candidates.<\/p>\n

\u201cI kinda stayed away from endorsing one party or another because you\u2019re mayor for everyone \u2014 you\u2019re the mayor for conservatives, you\u2019re the mayor for NDPers, you\u2019re the mayor for the entire community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a personal choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\tOntario NDP leader Marit Stiles walks with local NDP candidate Lisa Vezeau-Allen during a campaign stop in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. on Friday Feb. 7, 2025.\t\t\t\t<\/span>
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\n\t\t\t\t\tTHE CANADIAN PRESS\/Kenneth Armstrong\t\t\t\t<\/cite>
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The Progressive Conservatives\u2019 commanding early poll lead<\/a> is something which a University of Toronto professor and a former Toronto mayor both think could also be influencing the influx of endorsements.<\/p>\n

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Nelson Wiseman, professor emeritus with the University of Toronto\u2019s political science department, said the mayors who might be tempted to endorse other parties could be choosing to stay silent.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI can see why a lot of mayors who may be sympathetic to the Liberals or the NDP wouldn\u2019t come out with formal endorsements because they\u2019re afraid, \u2018Oh this might hurt my municipality in dealing with the provincial government\u2019 if I think the provincial conservatives are going to win,\u201d he told Global News.<\/p>\n

John Sewell, who led the City of Toronto as mayor from 1978 to 1980, said the endorsements were \u201cmuch more dominant now\u201d than when he was in politics.<\/p>\n

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