Toronto political dynasties: The people’s choice or the family business?
Canadian and GTA politics are rife with families who seek and achieve elected office. The know-how and name recognition provide a big boost and, some say, an unfair one.

thestar.com
May 17, 2016
By David Rider

Josh Colle was no fan of his dad’s job. The former teacher was away too much, he faced potential rejection every few years and what kid wants to work on a political campaign while his friends play in the park?

“If you had told the young Josh Colle what I do now,” says the Toronto city councillor and son of MPP and former councillor Mike Colle, “I would have argued with it pretty strenuously.”

Much later, with a good job and kids of his own, Colle left a community meeting knowing that while others could see the problems, and maybe possible solutions, he knew how to get elected to actually fix things.

“Next thing you know, I’m taking a leave of absence and starting a campaign,” says Colle, an energy and infrastructure consultant who took a pay cut when Ward 15, Eglinton-Lawrence, voters chose him in 2010.

“It’s less scary to take the leap because you’ve seen it and you know it can be done. And anybody would be dishonest to say it’s not easier to get elected when voters know the name already.”

The Clintons, Bushes and Kennedys are among families that have made the U.S. political arena feel at times more like a members-only gene pool.

Canada, too, is rife with campaigning kin, from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau down to reeves and trustees. Political families are particularly thick on the ground in the GTA.

Torontonians have the famous Fords - Michael (Stirpe, until he changed his surname in 2014) is campaigning to succeed both his late Uncle Rob and his Uncle Doug, both sons of an MPP, in the “Ford Nation” cradle of Ward 2, Etobicoke North, which the family has represented - some say ruled - for 16 years.

Downtown Councillor Mike Layton is the son of Jack, who was a councillor and federal NDP leader and the son of Robert, a Mulroney-era Progressive Conservative cabinet minister. Through his mother, Doris, Layton is a direct descendant of William Steeves, a Father of Confederation.

His best friend and council colleague Joe Cressy is the son of two former councillors and also a direct descendant of another Father of Confederation, Thomas D’Arcy McGee.

Others include Councillor Sarah Doucette, whose political lineage includes a mother and grandfather who were mayors in the U.K., and David Shiner, son of former North York councillor Esther. His niece Erica is hoping to carry the torch into office as a Toronto school trustee.

Not to be outdone, both Lorna and daughter Linda Jackson have been Vaughan mayors. The Gibsons and Palleschis are Brampton political fixtures. Mahoneys have represented Mississauga’s Ward 8 since 1978.

While some talk of royal jelly, the politicos themselves attribute it to knowledge from growing up inside a political machine; the use of that machine when it’s their turn; an inherited belief in public service; and the advantage of being a familiar name on the ballot.

Name recognition increases support for candidates in “low-information” elections, professors Elizabeth Zechmeister and Cindy Kam, of Vanderbilt University, concluded after a series of experiments. Municipal campaigns, with no political parties and scant media coverage for most races, fit the definition of “low-information.”

Voters increase their expectations about a candidate’s chances of winning when they encounter a familiar name, prompting some to “bandwagon” around them, Zechmeister said in an email.

Even “controversial or negative information” associated with a candidate can yield votes.

When Doug Ford stormed into the Ward 2 race in 2010, Cadigia Ali, a highly respected Rexdale community organizer, Italian-trained physician and provincial civil servant, told the Star: “What has Doug Ford done for this ward? This is not a dynasty, this is not the Kennedys.”

A short time later, he steamrolled Ali with more than five times her vote total.

“It’s not fair that it’s about who you know, or how much money you have, or if you are famous in your area,” the now-retired Ali said this week. “But it’s democracy. What can you do?”

Next generations will, naturally, feel pressure to continue the political legacy that helped get them elected.

Stewart Hyson, a University of New Brunswick political scientist, said dynasties can limit a diversity of opinion and approaches among those in power.

“I don’t like dynasties because they perpetuate the same kind of approach,” he said. “There’s not many families like the Laytons (who moved from right to left). Usually, it’s a continuation.”

Jordan Glass, who came second in the 2014 Toronto District School Board election for Ward 5 trustee, discovered last week that Erica Shiner is running against him in a byelection to replace the late Howard Kaplan.

“So far it’s made no difference,” he says of his rival’s lineage, adding he hasn’t seen Shiner at community events and his own family has strong roots in the area. “But I know her name might give her an advantage and I’ll be shocked if she doesn’t have some kind of organization ready to go.”

A familiar name can be a mixed blessing, with accusations of coattail riding and constant comparisons to those who came before.

“Sometimes you’ve got more to prove,” even to yourself, says former Mississauga councillor Katie Mahoney, who succeeded her husband, Steve, and, after 23 years was succeeded by her son Matt.

“When I was presenting myself to an annual general meeting I asked Steve, who was then an MPP, to drop in. When he walked in I fell apart,” she said. “At the microphone I was confident on my own, but when he walked in I thought, ‘I can’t speak like he can speak, I don’t have his presence.’

“It took a while to really find my feet. People were willing to vote for me because of (Steve’s) reputation. When I retired and Matt decided to run, they said to me, ‘Katie, we’re sorry you’re leaving us but happy your son is running.’

“There was a trust with the electorate - the Mahoney name was and is respected.”

Canadian political clans

Politics runs in some families like red hair or height. The GTA is no stranger to dynasties of all political stripes.

The Fords: Douglas Ford Sr., a self-made Etobicoke millionaire, served as a Progressive Conservative MPP from 1995 to 1999. His son Rob was councillor for Ward 2, Etobicoke North, from 2000 to 2010, then mayor for four years, then councillor again until his death last year. Doug Ford held Ward 2 while his brother was mayor. Their nephew Michael was elected a school trustee in 2014 and is now seeking to replace Rob Ford as Ward 2 councillor.

The Laytons: Toronto Councillor Mike is the latest office-holder in a line that includes his dad, former NDP Leader Jack; his stepmom, former NDP MP Olivia Chow; his grandfather Robert, a federal Progressive Conservative cabinet minister; and Liberal Senator William Steeves, a New Brunswick delegate to the Charlottetown and Quebec conferences that birthed Canada. Mike Layton says: “Growing up around politics and social movements, knocking on doors, opens your eyes to the possibility of making people’s lives better.”

The Cressys: Toronto Councillor Joe Cressy was born into politics. His mother, Joanne Campbell, was the first Toronto city councillor to give birth while in office. Her husband, Gordon Cressy, also served on Toronto council. Joe Cressy is related through his mother to Thomas D’Arcy McGee, a Father of Confederation assassinated in Ottawa. McGee was a drinking buddy of Canada’s first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, and, Cressy says, gave McGee a crib in which he and other family members have slept.

The Holydays: Doug Holyday was a mayor of Etobicoke before he moved to Toronto council. The Etobicoke representative was known for being a staunch fiscal conservative and, in his final years on council, deputy mayor during Mayor Rob Ford’s tumultuous term. His son Stephen Holyday easily won enough votes in 2014 to succeed his father. Holyday the younger is proving to be just as much a penny-pincher, charging only $3,504.91 in council expenses last year, the second lowest of 44 councillors.

The Jacksons: Lorna Jackson was a Vaughan councillor and then the city’s mayor from 1982 until her death in 2002. Fours years later, her daughter Linda Jackson, who was 15 when he mother was first elected to council, became Vaughan mayor. “Linda credits her mother with teaching her the importance of public service and how to effect change in the community,” her official Vaughan biography stated.