Bonnie Crombie becomes Mississauga’s first new mayor since 1978 while Fennell loses badly in Brampton

Nationalpost.com
Oct. 27, 2014
By Tristin Hopper

Mississauga

For 36 years, the people of Mississauga re-elected Hazel McCallion. They elected her despite Ms. McCallion’s staunch refusal to campaign, they elected her as the population tripled and they even elected her despite recent conflict of interest allegations. And they did not just elect her, they adored her: In 2011, as Montreal and Toronto began to turn dramatically against their own chief executives, a poll found Hazel McCallion to be the most popular mayor in Canada.

And now, with Mayor McCallion finally retired at the age of 93, the people of Mississauga have elected her chosen successor.

Bonnie Crombie was 18 when her predecessor was elected mayor of the 260,000 people in the rural suburb of Mississauga.

Now, the former Liberal MP and Mississauga city councilor is taking control of a budding metropolis of nearly 800,000.

Originally, Ms. Crombie had spent the election trailing behind Steve Mahoney, another former Liberal MP. That all changed Thanksgiving weekend, when Ms. McCallion used the holiday to carefully review the platforms of both her would-be replacements.

“Look at the programs of both candidates that are running, and I have every confidence that when you review it, that you will vote for Bonnie Crombie,” Ms. McCallion told a crowd at the city’s Emerald Chinese Restaurant. Within hours, Ms. Crombie had surged to a 20-point lead over Mr. Mahoney.

Brampton

When Brampton last went to the polls in 2010, Mayor Susan Fennell was defending herself against accusations that her eponymous Mayor Susan Fennell Community Fund was operating without registering as a charity or disclosing its financial statements. In comments to the National Post, she called the accusations “distracting” and a pre-election “smear.” The electorate appeared to agree: Ms. Fennell won more than 50% of the vote, more than three times ahead of the splinter of the vote shared by her closest opponent.