[xtypo_dropcap]S[/xtypo_dropcap]ome might call it an election, but a more fitting title might be Survivor Toronto. With over 100 debates and possibly the longest campaign in Canadian history, the race has been nothing short of gruelling.
Candidates have been campaigning nonstop for months, often facing off against each other in three debates a day before going on to fundraisers and community events in the evening.
Although over 50 brave souls put their foot in the ring, only a handful got more than passing recognition. Of the five who emerged as front-runners, only three remain, and of those three, most observers predict it will come down to one of two: Toronto City Councillor and businessman Rob Ford, or former provincial MPP and Minister of Health and Deputy Premier George Smitherman.
The Epoch Times decided to spend a weekend following the front-runners around to see how things were shaping up as election day looms.
Joe Pantalone
Former deputy mayor and four-time city councillor Joe Pantalone is the long shot. He’s not just the underdog, he’s the runt, but his short stature is matched with jovial demeanour that makes him, arguably, the most likeable of the contenders.
Pantalone comes across as good-natured and harmless, some might say the Mr. Congeniality of the election, though ruling him out altogether would be a mistake. While the most recent Angus Reid poll has Ford and Smitherman neck and neck with 41 and 40 percent of the vote respectively, Pantalone is still in the game, though just barely, with 16 percent.
But watching him campaign along west end of Bloor with outgoing Mayor David Miller, who endorsed his former deputy late in the race, Pantalone looks secondary.
Miller is confident and relaxed with a familiarity that comes from living in the neighbourhood and knowing locals every step along the way.
While it is Pantalone who is running for mayor, it is Miller who gets most of the attention, as people one after another approach him to thank him for a job well done or suggest he should have run. Pantalone often ends up outdistancing the outgoing mayor, waiting up ahead and passing out flyers while Miller ends up in yet another detailed conversation.
Pantalone is warm and friendly, but his earnestness doesn’t carry the gravity of Miller’s confidence.
“He’s a city builder,” Miller tells friends as he introduces Pantalone to store owners he knows. “He’s the only progressive candidate.”
Pantalone says the same thing about himself, but Miller says it with authority.
Which is, in many ways, what makes Pantalone a great candidate. In a council of 44, there is little doubt he would have the easiest transition into the mayoral seat. He has, as he frequently says, been apprenticing for the job.
More importantly though, in a council of 44 where cooperation is essential to getting anything done, Pantalone’s amicability is perhaps the most important quality he brings to the seat. While Smitherman made his name as a bruiser in the Ontario legislature, and Ford speaks with a bluntness that offends as many as it endears, Pantalone is easy to get along with.
“We have a city to build,” says Pantalone as he passes out flyers and introduces himself to possible voters. He might be down in the polls, but in a race where others have fallen away, he certainly isn’t out.
