Watching Cogeco on election night was very enlightening, and even dare I say, entertaining.
As the polls came in the hosts endeavoured to suppress their surprise as the three women rose to the top of the list like cream on fresh milk. The commentators were very adroit in their explanations seemingly understanding that the citizens of North Bay wanted change. Not so much with the in-person interviewer, who one must admit, kept a straight face when interviewing the King.
It was a good thing that Ms. Brousseau did not win the mayor’s chair or one suspects that the King would have spewed more vitriol on the females on the list above him. I suppose we can just say this is a perfect example of the people we thought we did not want to represent us coming out from under their rock. This fellow would be an embarrassment to the Old Boys' Club who at least pretend to not exist in North Bay.
Comparing the deputy mayor-elect with his own daughter as being too young to comprehend the world around us must have raised eyebrows in the castle. To further imply that the staff at city hall would have a ball with these neophytes said something about the King’s opinion of the management at city hall. Maybe that was a cut and paste from the mayor-elect’s platform.
There was however a moment of satisfaction when the King begged, actually begged, to keep his job as the DNSSAB representative. His begging did include the claim that only he had the knowledge, expertise, experience, and understanding of the problems facing the social services in the city, and being a compassionate, caring, loving fellow – who could even think of replacing him!
At least the King was open and transparent about his opinions on our choices for council which might imply that he was the one past councillor who was in favour of more transparency at city hall. It will be interesting to see if the new mayor is as vociferous in his new digs as he was with the Chamber. How quickly he congratulated the new council and how gracious he was to his opponents may indicate either a naivety of politicking or something about his character.
One hopes neither.
I did appreciate how easy it was to vote with the new electronic ballot. Although I had three ballots delivered to my address I only voted once. Really, only once. Sorry about two of my choices (Dave and Derek) not making it into the top 10 but seven out of 10 is very satisfying. I even got the school board vote right!
So go, Maggie, go! And God save us from the King.
