HOW ROTTEN IS THE WORLD OF POLITICS?

Michel Benchimol

Left to Right: Olivia Chow, Chris Alexander, and Brad Bradford. Image via AI.

In Toronto, we have a municipal election approaching.

The principal contest is between Olivia Chow and Brad Bradford — two candidates offering voters distinctly different approaches to governing this city.

Amazing.

A real choice.

Voters who support Olivia Chow can vote for her. Voters who believe Toronto needs a different direction have Brad Bradford.

That is exactly how democracy is supposed to work: two competing visions, a vigorous debate, and the people decide.

But wait.

We are talking about politics. Things cannot possibly remain that simple.

Who can possibly be lurking in the background?

Enter Chris Alexander.

Alexander left elected office after losing his federal seat in 2015.

Before that, he was a diplomat, Canada’s ambassador to Afghanistan, an MP and a cabinet minister.

A respectable résumé.

But that was more than a decade ago.

So what has he accomplished since?

According to his own biography, he has worked as an “executive, strategic advisor and corporate director in Toronto.”

Wonderful.

Executive of what?

Strategic adviser to whom?

Corporate director doing what?

Where is the major organization he ran, the large workforce he managed, the substantial operating budget he administered or the business he built?

Details, details.

Apparently Toronto should simply be impressed by the titles.

And now, after more than a decade outside elected office, Alexander suddenly decides Toronto needs him as mayor.

How fortunate for us.

Except there is one small problem.

He is running a distant third.

So what exactly is Chris Alexander doing in this race?

Perhaps he genuinely believes Toronto voters will suddenly awaken one morning and propel him into the mayor’s chair.

Politics does require optimism.

But a third-place candidate doesn’t necessarily have to win to matter.

He has votes. And votes can become leverage.

Stay in the race and you may affect who wins.

Support one of the leading candidates and suddenly your endorsement may have value.

And afterward?

Well, politics can be a wonderfully accommodating profession. Governments have appointments. Mayors have advisers. Administrations have positions.

Am I saying Alexander has been promised something?

No. There is no evidence of that.

But are Toronto voters entitled to ask what his endgame is?

Absolutely.

Alexander has already publicly entertained the possibility of leaving the race if his support didn’t improve, before later announcing that he wasn’t going anywhere.

How reassuring.

So here is the question, Mr. Alexander:

Are you running to become mayor, or are you running to become important to whoever does?

If it is the former, explain how you intend to get from a distant third place to first.

And if something interesting happens after the election — an appointment, a position, an advisory role — Toronto voters might want to remember this campaign.

Pure coincidence, naturally.

This is politics.

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