What does future hold for Vaughan MP Fantino?

YorkRegion.com
July 29, 2014
By Tim Kelly

Will he or won’t he? Only Julian Fantino knows for sure.

Vaughan's Conservative MP is not entirely ruling out a run for mayor of Vaughan. Fantino told yorkregion.com he's still happy as a federal cabinet minister, a position he’s held since winning the Vaughan byelection in 2010.

Fantino has only six weeks to decide if he wants to challenge Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua.

The incumbent mayor has yet to put his name forward officially but is widely expected to do so after Labour Day, Sept. 1.

Fantino spoke about his future plans in a brief interview at Earth Rangers Tuesday after a federal summer jobs announcement.

He said he will run for the Conservative nomination in the new Vaughan-Woodbridge riding before the 2015 election.

But Fantino also made it clear nothing is certain when it comes to his future.

“There’s been a rumble (of interest). There have been polls. I get all kinds of urging (to run for mayor). I just want you to know as I speak to you today, this is where I am, this is where I plan to stay. But I can’t tell you what’s going to come. You go to the doctor and they tell you everything’s OK, but I can’t give you any guarantees about tomorrow,” Fantino said.

The longtime police officer who has had multiple career changes - he has been chief of the London, York Regional and Toronto police services, as well as Superintendent of the Ontario Provincial Police - may be considering another career change, or retirement altogether.

Fantino's wife, Liviana, has told him she would like to see the man who turns 72 in two weeks time, retire.

“I always tell people that I have very strong opposition for me to continue working, someone who wants me to retire and that opposition’s my wife,” he said.

Asked if he were to continue in office at the local level, instead of at the federal level, he said he’s “fulfilled” doing what he’s doing now.

“I don’t have to promote me, all I have to do is promote the community," he said, admitting there has been some pressure on him to run for Vaughan’s top municipal job.