Random Access

What may be the first-ever full-scale political fundraiser for an independent candidate takes place at the Mississaugua Golf and Country Club June 19.
When the planning started a few months ago for the $250-a-plate meal for Mississauga South MPP Tim Peterson, you can bet that the special guest speaker was not slated to be John Tory.
But such are the vagaries of politics.
Peterson left the Liberal caucus at the end of March to sit as an independent and held a joint press conference with Tory that day to announce that he would join the Conservatives and be their candidate in the election Oct. 10.
So who does the fundraiser belong to?
“They’ve taken our time, our place and our event,” says Dr. Boyd Upper of the Liberal executive, which is now about to organize a similar event for Charles Sousa, who will be acclaimed as the party’s candidate Tuesday at Lorne Park Secondary School.
One thing that will definitely be different than originally planned at the Peterson fundraiser is the guest list, laughs Upper.
If all goes well for the MPP, the House will rise before the event takes place, and he will be a Tory by then. That will ease the questions about why the Conservative association would raise money for a guy who doesn’t yet belong to their party.
The House is not actually scheduled to rise until the end of June, says Mississauga West MPP Bob Delaney, but that could change subject to negotiations between the House leaders.
A circumspect Dr. Upper wouldn’t come right out and say that Peterson’s defection has caused some Tories to switch allegiances to the Liberals. But he did say that, “we’re getting a lot of offers of help from people we’ve never heard of.”
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Shaila Kibria was the cover girl for the debut of Aver magazine, the publication for Canadian Muslims that was launched by UTM student Tahmina Reza and a group of family and friends from Mississauga in September 2006.
The magazine included an article by Reza and Humaid Sohail called Party Politics. It stated, in part, that, “as citizens of Canada, we have the right to partake in the political system of our country. We care about the policies that affect our lives and the lives of others. It’s crucial for us not only to understand the features of our political system but to actually use the system to benefit ourselves and Canadian society at large.”
Looks like the cover girl read the article. Kibria was a University of Toronto Mississauga student for several years, leading the part-time students’ association, starting the child care centre on campus, speaking out about perceived racism at U of T and helping to organize a campus group called Bring Love In, Not Guns (BLING) that held a conference for alienated black youth in Toronto in january 2006.
Now Kibria, a vice-president of U of T’s Student Administrative Council, is considering a run for the nomination for the New Democratic Party in the provincial election Oct. 10 in the riding of Mississauga-Erindale. If she gets the nod, she will continue a recent tradition of current or former UTM students running for office in the riding. In recent elections in the same riding, UTM alumni Simon Black and Rupinder Brar both ran for the NDP, and Jeff Brownridge ran for the Greens.
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The remainder of the power plant at Lakeview Generating Station is scheduled to be demolished at the end of June or in early July. The exact date for the big kaboom has not yet been set by Ontario Power Generation according to spokesman John Earl.
This will not be an extravaganza like the demolition of the Four Sisters, where Mayor Hazel McCallion pushed the button and the chimneys came tumbling down. “It’s going to be a very low-key event,” says Earl. “It’s just a big old powerhouse that’s coming down.”
There will be no speeches. Don’t expect to hear anything more about the details of a proposal for a gas-fired power plant on the site until after the provincial election.