Oakville, Ontario, mayor Rob Burton was held on the ground of a manufacturing plant behind a podium with blue and white words “protect Ontario” sporting through the front.
“Thank you for the chance for expressing my personal point of view for whom I think it is the best for the community that I like, in particular for growth management,” he said on Monday.
Burton then approved the leader of the progressive party, Doug Ford, adding that he was “not here in the name of the municipality, as mayor”.
It is a familiar formula for the PC campaign, which has seen several mayors of large and medium -sized cities appear alongside Ford and offer it their approval.
A wave of leaders – representing places like Brampton, Barrie, Welland and Windsor – all presented Ford during campaign events and offered their party their personal support to a third majority government. The endorsements represent a small fraction of the 400 local leaders of the province.
The mayors lend their support to a party leader in campaign are an unusual but not unknown model in Ontario politics.
The former mayor of Vaughan, Maurizio Bevilacqua, told Global News that it was an “unwritten protocol” that sitting politicians tend not to approve the candidates.
“I stayed away from the approval of one party or another because you are mayor for everyone – you are the mayor of the Conservatives, you are the mayor of Ndpers, you are the mayor of The whole community, “he said.
“It’s a personal choice.”
Ontario’s NPD chief Marit Stiles walks with the local candidate for NPD Lisa Vezeau-Allin during a campaign stop at Sault Ste. Marie, have. Friday, February 7, 2025.
The Canadian Press / Kenneth Armstrong
Conservative progressives Make the survey of the first is something that a professor of the University of Toronto and a former mayor of Toronto both think could also influence the influx of mentions.
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Nelson Wiseman, professor emeritus in the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto, said that mayors who could be tempted to approve other parties could choose to remain silent.
“I can see why many mayors who can be sympathetic to the Liberals or at the NPD would not go out with official endorsements because they are afraid:” Oh, it could harm my municipality to deal with the provincial government “` `If if I think the provincial conservatives will win, “he told Global News.
John Sewell, who directed the city of Toronto as mayor from 1978 to 1980, said that the approvals were “much more dominant” than when he was in politics.
He agreed that political winds play a key role in which mayors feel confident to verbalize who they could support.
“I am sure that if I were mayor, I would look at the polls and I think:” If this guy will win, it is probably in my interest in being on his side “,” he said. “So, I’m sure this is one of the reasons why the Ford (PC Party) obtains approvals from mayors.”
Bevilacqua, who was the last function in 2022, did not agree that local leaders would throw their weight behind Ford in search of a kind of gain.
“I don’t think a Prime Minister promotes you just because you’ve approved them,” he said. “He will do things in your community because they are necessary. If people think there will be a bridge that is not necessary by the province, they joke themselves. »»
In addition to municipal leaders, the unions have also added endorsements to the race.
The progressives have reported a number of working groups, especially in the private sector. The NPD has also announced the support of the Amalgamated Transit Union International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.
Ontario Greens told Global News that they would reveal the approvals next week, while the Liberals had not answered questions about the campaign approvals.
Ontario Liberal Chief Bonnie Crombie appeared during a campaign event at the George Brown College in Toronto, Tuesday, February 11, 2025.
The Canadian Press / Chris Young
The question of whether the endorsements are really important are also to be discussed.
“I do not think,” said Sewell about whether the mayor’s endorsements have weight.
“I don’t think most people who vote are not sure how they are going to vote. You will vote because you know who you want to vote for.
Wiseman says that who offers approval can make all the difference.
“If you are approved by a major organization and the leader of this organization, it will have more impact than if you are approved by someone who sits in a school board in northern Ontario who practically voted And whose name is not recognizable, “he said.
Ontario votes on February 27.
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