Desmond Cole

Grassroots candidate out to prove 'star power' not needed at city hall

Desmond next to a streetcar

Globe and Mail, Tuesday June 20, 2006

BY JENNIFER LEWINGTON, CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF

At the downtown finals of a grassroots contest to liven up local politics, victor Desmond Cole was joined on stage by two unlikely fans.

Former CITY-TV journalist Adam Vaughan and NDP-backed Helen Kennedy, the two heavyweights in the race to elect a new councillor in Trinity-Spadina, held hands in triumph with the 24-year-old after he won the downtown finals of City Idol this month.

With a Canadian Idol -style selection process that attracted 1,200 to go out and vote, the campaign will field four fresh faces in the Nov. 13 municipal election. Even some of the losers intend to run.

The four finalists will get volunteers and assistance from City Idol to run in the riding of their choice. Mr. Cole picked Trinity-Spadina.

Last week, he and the other three winners -- Arthur Roszak (Etobicoke-Lakeshore); Bahar Aminvaziri (Don Valley West); and Amarjeet Chhabra (Scarborough East) -- showed up at city hall to file their nomination papers.

Asked about taking on Mr. Vaughan, the high-profile ex-political journalist, and Ms. Kennedy, a former aide to Olivia Chow, who held the ward until she became an MP last January, Mr. Cole was not cowed.

"I know, I know," the tutor said, smiling. "I know what people are thinking about the star power there.

"But it doesn't take a star to be involved at city hall and that is what I am going to prove. I can get out people they can't reach," he said.

And that's just what City Idol instigator Dave Meslin -- and political veterans -- say they hope will happen this election year.

"What we have done has been incredibly successful," said Mr. Meslin, a local activist who left the Toronto Public Space Committee (opposed to ads on city-owned garbage bins) to set up Who Runs This Town (and City Idol). "People have a different perception now about what is possible in local politics."

At the outset, 100 people signed up but 71 showed up on the first night of the contest in late April to make their pitch to the audience. Half of the group was eliminated in the first round, with the rest competing in four regional run-offs.

By design, City Idol left contestants free to develop their platforms, but now will bring out volunteers to knock on doors.

"What we can provide is mostly energy, the hardest thing to find in politics," said Mr. Meslin, who launched the project through e-mail contacts and word of mouth.

In the end, with a core group of six and more than 30 other volunteers, City Idol organized an open call for would-be politicians to shake up city hall.

Melissa Goldstein, 32, was one of those who signed on to help and will stay on to work for the City Idol candidates during the remaining months of the election campaign.

She helped organize the regional run-off in North York won by Ms. Aminvaziri. "It was one of the first places where I felt I could affect change on the ground," said Ms. Goldstein, who is studying for her master's degree in environmental science at York University.

Though she had hoped for more public debate on ideas during City Idol, she remains enthusiastic about the process.

So are Ms. Kennedy and Mr. Vaughan, who both welcome the arrival of Mr. Cole.

"It will be good to have Desmond in the race," Ms. Kennedy said yesterday. "He is an articulate young guy who will bring a different perspective."

She praised the City Idol event as "a creative way of getting people engaged and it worked."

Mr. Vaughan says he has offered coaching to the would-be politicians (such as getting an accountant), and lauds Mr. Cole.

"His presence in the race and the City Idol presence in the race are really important things for the city," said Mr. Vaughan, who complained that "adults" typically look to engage young people only on issues of crime and violence.

"Young people actually want to get involved in the political process in a way that is much more complex, more diverse," he said. "They bring a whole series of ideas to the table that are all fascinating."

Read the original story at theglobeandmail.com.