Peterborough voters deliver a clear mandate for change
her campaign for mayor, Diane Therrien asked Peterborough voters to “expect more” and “vote for change.”
Apparently they were listening.
Mayor-elect Therrien’s decisive trouncing of twoterm Mayor Daryl Bennett on Monday by a margin of better than two votes to one – 19,254 to 8,659 – was stunning not so much because she won but for the totality of the rout.
The new mayor is not a political rookie, as current MP Maryam Monsef was when she lost to Bennett four years ago. She is relatively inexperienced with only one term as a Town Ward councillor but used those four years to show that she is bright, tough-minded and capable.
And in a political climate that for the past several years has not been kind to incumbents and anyone seen as “old guard” at every level – municipal, provincial and federal – Bennett was running against the prevailing spirit.
But until a late, privately commissioned poll done for Examiner columnist (and former Bennett confidante) David Goyette showed Therrien with a shockingly substantial lead, few would have thought she could win so handily.
Even then, the Bennett camp could have rationalized that the trend towards sitting politicians and governments being tossed out has been matched by a trend for polls to be spectacularly and embarrassingly wrong. Score one for the pollsters.
More importantly for Peterborough and its future, score one for not only Therrien but also for three new city councillors, all with much more affinity for Therrien and her vision of how a city council acts and what it does than they would have had with Bennett.
All three are first-time politicians and in general will align themselves with themes the new mayor ran on and spoke up for over the past four years – more public consultation and a stronger commitment to social services.
Kemi Akapo in Town Ward had the easier path in that she was running for the seat Therrien left open and she sits firmly in the same left-leaning section of the politicial spectrum.
Kim Zippel, who led the polls in Otonabee Ward, also had the advantage of running for a vacant seat created when Coun. Dan McWilliams decided not to run again. Her community work has been rooted in environmental protection.
One of the challengers she defeated was Bob Hall, a former longtime Northcrest Ward councillor who was trying to make a comeback after stepping away four years ago to make a run for the federal Liberal nomination.
Hall, who lost that bid, was later appointed to the Police Services Board by city council and is seen as a Bennett ally. His loss to Zippel and to incumbent Coun. Lesley Parnell is another sign that Peterborough was looking for change.
Stephen Wright took the second Northcrest Ward seat from incumbent Coun. Dave Haacke, an active Conservative also considered a Bennett ally. Wright is more centrist than Akapo or Zippel but has been outspoken about council doing a better, more thorough job of seeking out and acting on public opinion.
All three will be important players as Mayor-elect Therrien tries to deliver on her challenge to voters to “expect more.”
Details of that agenda should start to appear soon. We look forward to seeing them, and hope the new mayor proves as successful in office as she was in this campaign.