Random Access

Talk about your mixed feelings.
Michelle Meghie is a long-time Mississauga resident, involved in her community (ward 5 council candidate in 2003, past president of the Mississauga branch of the Royal Canadian Sea and Navy League Cadet Corps, vice-president of Peel Sisters of Colour in Action Inc.), experienced (more than 20 years as a Toronto social worker, runs her own small home décor business) active in the Liberal Party (president of the Mississauga Liberal Women’s Club, vice-president of the Ontario Women’s Liberal Commission) and until very recently, a highly-qualified candidate for the Liberal nomination in the open riding of Mississauga-Brampton South.
Like Norma Nicholson, a nurse with similar outstanding credentials profiled yesterday in this space, Meghie has been informed that she will not be the candidate in the riding despite participating in screening interviews, doing some street-slogging and selling some memberships.
The Ontario Liberals will appoint someone, almost certainly a woman, to vie for the seat, which they have an extremely good chance of winning.
“I’m a little bit disappointed after I made such a big effort,” Meghie said this morning. “It’s too bad it’s going to be done by appointment. Our government has said they want to see more transparency and democracy but I’m not sure that will happen here.”
On the other hand, Meghie is an astute student of the politics of the riding she wanted to represent. She rattles off the numbers for Mississauga-Brampton South: 113,000 population, 53 per cent “ethnic” background, 24 per cent South Asians, with blacks and Chinese next in numbers.
Much as she would like to think she could win an open nomination, the reality is that she would not. “I know the black community and the Caucasian community and the South Asian community. The South Asians work diligently, they are politically diverse, they have the finger on the pulse of the community and they come (to nomination meetings) together. They always win.”
Although she is unsettled by the reality of an appointment, the part-time master’s student in community development concedes that the mechanism has its place.
“I really believe in proportional representation,” says the mother of one. “There are 103 members of the legislature and there is only one black person, the Honourable Mary Anne Chambers.
“Whether it’s me or Norma Nicholson, I think it’s time (for a black female candidate)” says Meghie. “Appointments seem like a very unfair process but it’s the only way that women can really be successful,” she adds.
It would be easy for her to be cynical after banging her head unsuccessfully against the wall but Meghie knows well that you don’t win the political game by walking away when things get tough. “I will continue to put my name forward. It’s important we represent our community in a big way. You can’t sit back and complain, you have to be part of the process.”
Which is exactly the lesson that the South Asian community has learned, and profited from.
You don’t have time to discuss the intricacies of groups “hijacking” the nomination process when you’re busy selling memberships and making sure your chosen candidate is selected.
• • •
Speaking of chosen candidates. Peel Police Chief Noel Catney, acclaimed April 19 to run for the Conservatives in Brampton-Springdale against incumbent Liberal Linda Jeffrey, has decided to step aside.
“I thought it over and evaluated it and, with the amount of time I am spending on other interests, I’ve decided it’s not for me,” Catney said this afternoon from his Brampton home.
“I knew it would be a daunting challenge,” he added, “and with the viability of it and the opportunities that are being presented to me in the private sector, I’ve made this decision” he said. “It would be unfair to take the position and not have the time to devote to it that the residents of Brampton-Springdale deserve,” he added.
There are lots of other qualified candidates to recruit for the Oct. 10 vote, said Catney.
With so many people scrambling for the chance to be nominated for mainline parties in other ridings, it seems awfully strange to see somebody handing one back — under any circumstances.