Meet 10 candidates vying to become the next mayor of Mississauga
CBC
The race to become the next mayor of Mississauga is heating up, with 10 candidates throwing their hat in the ring so far — but political experts say it's not just anybody's race to win.
The nomination period opened on March 7 and closes April 26. Candidates have until election day, June 10, to get their messaging out to motivate Mississaugans to vote.
Dennis Pilon, a political scientist and department chair at York University, says candidates who are better known are likely to have the biggest advantage in the race, followed by those with considerable political experience and a team of people already willing to help them.
"It's a game of name recognition," said Pilon. "Most voters are going to be unaware it's going on and those who are aware that it's going on are going to struggle to distinguish between candidates."
Since 1978, the city has had only two mayors — Bonnie Crombie and her predecessor, political mainstay Hazel McCallion, who led Mississauga for 36 years. Crombie recently left the post after winning the Ontario Liberal leadership race. Her exit triggered a flurry of interested candidates declaring they intended to run, four of them current councillors, and others, including the son of a former mayor, looking to enter the arena for the first time.
Political strategist Aleem Kanji says some candidates, including some councillors, are likely using the race as a "profile-building exercise."
"The winning candidate is going to build a very big tent," he said. But reaching a wide base of supporters takes organization and team.
"You're going to need to mount a serious campaign," he said, which means big financial costs.
He says he's not sure all candidates will make it to the finish line.
Mississauga's first big wave of growth a few decades ago was fuelled by people who wanted to get out of Toronto to have a larger individual home, said York University political scientist Zachary Spicer. Now newcomers and even children of some of those who came here 30 years ago are looking for where they can live in the city.
Different demographics may be seeking different things and have a different desire for change, said Spicer.
"Byelections are unpredictable, but the dynamics in Mississauga make this very unpredictable," he said. "The underlying issue that is going to command a lot of attention is what kind of city does Mississauga want to be?"
CBC Toronto invited all candidates to share their top issues. Most identified building more housing among their top three priorities.
Meet the candidates, beginning with four councillors you may already know of:
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