Dear Editor,

Although I live and work in Montreal, it has come to my attention that deMOCracy is being eroded in Toronto. Why has there been a media blackout of the mayor candidates in Toronto? This is indeed a sad day for journalism when serious issues which are being addressed by one candidate, namely Mr. Gomberg, are not even being heard about or reported on in the newspapers or media.

Do we want to just endure the bad-pattern-politics- as-usual routine or, Do we stand at the abyss and make a great leap forward into the future thereby creating a place where we are all counted and heard?

Tooker Gomberg is not some phony photo-op politican. This is someone who goes the extra mile. The question is dear editor, do you care about the issues and who is calling our attention to them or, on politics-as-usual?

Sincerely,

Suzan Murphy
Montreal, Canada

Sent to both the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail regarding the debate issue:

Mel Lastman was quoted on City TV as saying that he'd agree to a Mayoralty debate only if it was organized by the Toronto Star or the Globe and Mail. I am very interested in seeing a debate between Mel Lastman and Tooker Gomberg. I feel the two candidates have very different visions of Toronto, and that it is important for the electorate in this city to be given the opportunity by its media to see these visions. This is fundamental to democracy. People have a right to have the issues of an election campaign covered. The media has a duty to cover the issues of a campaign. And what better opportunity than a debate. So please take Mel Lastman up on his offer, and organize a Mayoralty debate.

(Mark Grieveson)

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To the Editor:

re: John Barber (Is there any life left in the old civic Toronto?) Nov 7, '00.

First of all, "D-E-D" doesn't spell "dead," it spells "ded." Now, even though I lack the benefits accrued by Mr. Barber in this, the 6th generation of his family's presence in Toronto, I know "ded" is not a word. I have no doubt Mel's advisors and handlers are also ken to this fact. What about it? Well, talk to me a year from now when Mel comes back to the table with some variant on the Adam's Lake garbage dump proposal.

"I didn't mean "dead,"" he's likely to tell us; "I meant "deed." I told you in November! I'm deeding our garbage to the North." A subsequent computer analysis of his speech will show how he slurred the two "E"s together: "D-EE-D."

Secondly, what's with your column titles? Am I just too dense to get the connection between a reference to "the old civic Toronto" and another column bemoaning the fact that someone actually has the gall to run against hizzoner without "Generation Six" Barber's approval? Or is it just that Barber has a family member titling his pieces, of whom he's too fond to set straight? A seventh generation Barber in training? Seriously, you can do better.

Which brings me to the point of this letter.

John Barber is so vehement in his contention that Tooker Gomberg is an energy-wasting sideshow, it makes me wonder what he stands to gain from a Lastman coronation. He keeps saying Gomberg should just melt away now that the Adam's Lake proposal has died, conveniently forgetting Gomberg's role in killing the plan. And as former Toronto Mayor John Sewell wrote last week in eye, Gomberg is the only mayoral candidate "who will ensure [it] stays dead." Sewell's was only the latest in a long string of Gomberg endorsements, including those of Jane Jacobs and David Suzuki.

Barber's standard refrain is that Gomberg's entire campaign is based on opposition to the Adam's Lake proposal. This just isn't so. Please, ask Barber to go to the website: http://www.gombergformayor.org -- or better yet, talk to Gomberg himself. Gomberg is an environmental activist of the old school and the veteran of many elections. There's no doubt he seized on the steaming platter of garbage Mel Lastman handed out with the Adam's Lake dump, and used it for his own ends, but I know for a fact he was considering running long before the Adam's Lake monster emerged from the depths of north Ontario. One of my favorites in his platform is the proposal to build a Ward's Island-style car-free community in the Portlands (the 500 families paying a yearly fee to keep their names on the island waiting list (now capped) should rejoice over that one).

But seriously, what's not to rejoice in Gomberg's platform? He's all about liveable cities, accountability in the police force, a greener, friendlier, less money-grubbing sort of town. In short, he's the man to vote for if you really miss "the old civic Toronto."

Jacob Allderdice, M.Arch.

to the editor:
re: John Barber "Toronto" column,
Oct 31 '00
("Gomberg seriously silly"):

What a disappointment John Barber has been lately. I thought he got into a bit of a roll last month with his discussion of the backroom dealings surrounding the Adam's Mine debate, but he fell down in his follow-up (to say, as he did, it was merely a question of finances that sunk the deal, is naive at best). And now, writing about the most exciting mayoral candidate to come along in many a year, Barber smugly dismisses Tooker Gomberg as a one-issue candidate (garbage) whose sole plank has been disposed of.

But Gomberg is far more than that. It's true he had a big hand in the recycling plan that sees Edmonton sidestream so much of its waste from landfills, but it's also true that his presence at Toronto city hall in the final debate on the garbage deal helped ensure its presence in the public eye, and thereby its ultimate rejection (coincidentally, not until after the province had promised money for Portlands rehabilitation).

In the meantime, Gomberg has developed a far-reaching campaign platform that covers, as a glance at his web site (http://www.gombergformayor.org) will show you, the homeless crisis and related poverty issues, the police, smog, business taxes, garbage as a resource, citizen involvement in government, Toronto as a province, tenant's rights, cleaning up Lake Ontario, TTC, bicycles and good urban design, et cetera.

So, is a vote for Gomberg "most importantly" just a vote against Mel Lastman? And is Gomberg's status as "just off the bus" from Edmonton so different from Lastman's status as "just off the limo" from North York? And is it true that Lastman is not ducking a debate (what about the one that the U. of T. Student Administration Council organized for next Monday at the 1700 seat Convocation Hall, inviting all 26 candidates, that Lastman refuses to attend)?

And is the $2500 Lastman gets from a faceless corporation really more "serious" than the $50 an individual like me gives Gomberg, after careful consideration of what I'll do without this month to afford my gift? And finally, are endorsements from Jane Jacobs and from David Suzuki, Michelle Landsberg and your own paper's Naomi Klein, representative of "zero support" from community leaders?

There's more to Tooker Gomberg than publicity stunts and a bicycle, just as there's more to Mel Lastman than cheap furniture and backroom deals. Those are just the vehicles that get them where they want to be. Pity John Barber can't (or won't) write about that place. It would make a more interesting story, I think.

Jacob Allderdice

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To the Editor,
Toronto Star

What does a poor candidate have to do to be considered "serious" by the Star?

When Royson James says there is "virtually no one challenging [Lastman] as mayor" (October 25), how does he reach this conclusion? Is it the campaign platform, the number of posters, a campaign office, or the number of volunteers working on the campaign, or the size of the campaign budget?

Tooker Gomberg has Mel Lastman beat all counts but the budget. He has a campaign office (call 968-7626 or "YOUR MAN"), over 500 volunteers, a website boasting over 300,000 hits to date (www.gombergformayor.org), 700 people on an e-mail list, campaign signs on bicycles and other unusual places, and he is campaigning on the most serious issues facing the city in this election: garbage, clean air, public transit homelessness, and healthy, safe communities.

To date, Lastman has no office, website, or any visible campaign, and yet you call him the only candidate?

Tooker has the support and admiration of hundreds, if not thousands, of people like me: people who want our city to be a healthy and vibrant place for all of us who live here, not just a theme park for the tourist dollar and big business. Homelessness, transit, and a healthy city, the very issues Royson wants Mel to speak out on, have been addressed eloquently and with passion by Tooker Gomberg. You have only to listen to him to realize his knowledge and commitment run deep.

So what does Mel have that Tooker doesn't? He's the incumbent with the backing of Bay Street and a cool million stashed away in case of emergencies. Is that what makes Mel "the only serious contender"?

Get with it Royson. Wake up Toronto Star. Please tell me there's more to politics than money.

Chris Winter

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Letter to the Editor, Toronto Star:

I was somewhat heartened by both today's op-ed "Make Recycling an Election Issue", which referenced Mayoral candidate Mel Lastman's visit to the Edmonton composting facility, and by the GTA story challenging Lastman's ducking of the electorate and of his opponents ("Where's the Bad Boy when we need him"). Both of these items merit coverage.

One of many such facilities across Canada, the Edmonton plant not only transforms the majority of their waste stream into valuable compost, while increasing recycling rates, but it also provides the opportunity to capture methane - a potent greenhouse gas - which can be used for electricity generation. Toronto, with its large waste volumes and highly constrained electricity transmission system, could greatly benefit from both waste management and local power generation - a win-win for both environment and local economy. It would also go a long way to meeting Toronto's GHG reduction targets.

And Lastman should have had to defend his recent support for Adams Mine (in direct opposition to an advanced composting/energy system), either at last night's forum at the St. Lawrence Centre, or in a Mayoral candidates debate - any Mayoral debate. You were right in saying this should be one of the many issues for this election.

But Lastman refuses to debate the issues, anywhere. I know, because I have tried, to report on his platform, in my capacity as a researcher & writer for a prominent Ontario independent energy trade organization. But to no avail: Mel refuses to debate in a public forum, and his office will not respond to requests for info on his eneryg & environment platforms.

But there the kudos end. Today's Star contains the following phrases: Öwith virtually no one to challenge him (Mr. Lastman) as mayor" and "With no viable opponent in the municipal election, LastmanÖ" But these statements are only true because the coverage isn't there for Lastman's challengers. Tooker Gomberg, as you surely must know by now, as an Edmonton municipal councillor, spearheaded the drive to install the composting facility that now serves Edmonton so well.

What more does a candidate have to do to meet the Star's criteria for viability? It is disengenuous at best, and dishonest at worst, for you to challenge Lastman to be proactive on recycling, and to participate in the democratic process, while at the same time refusing to cover campaigns such as Gomberg's. Torontonians - and democracy - deserve more consistency from the Star than this.

Kevin Devitt
Toronto, ON

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Dear Editor (Toronto Star):

I tried to chuckle, but I choked instead upon reading Royson James' article: No viable campaign besides Mr. Lastman's. Huh?

It is an insult to democracy and a ripoff to the citizens that most of the media stand by their mantra: only fringe candidates are running for Mayor, nobody else can win, go back to sleep.

Our campaign team of over 600 volunteers is very much alive. Our website (www.GombergForMayor.org) is hopping -- 330,000 hits, and the hits just keep on coming.

We're putting out a solid platform on the issues that Torontonians care about: the waste of garbage, toxic smoggy air, homelessness, tenant protection, public transit, policing.

On Nov. 13 Torontonians can choose the candidate in the chauffeur-driven Cadillac, or the one riding his bike and the TTC. They can choose the candidate whose best solution to the "garbage problem" is to dump it on people who don't want it, and declare war with Northerners and First Nations. Or they can vote for the former Edmonton City Councillor whose legacy is the largest and most successful composting operation in Canada.

They can choose the Mayor who wouldn't support the Tenants Defense Fund, or the candidate who is a tenant and understands their plight and will fight for tenants rights.

One candidate is notable by his choosing to be absent from every All Candidates election forum. I have attended three so far. My notable absence is from your recent press coverage.

But we're not invisible -- we're on the streets. Ours is a grassroots campaign. His is corporate. We have already distributed 150,000 leaflets with people power, and tomorrow twice that number arrive for volunteer distribution.

The other candidate's office is dead. Nobody has seen his print material. The candidate is hiding, and refusing debate. His website does not exist.

Which campaign is viable and alive? And why won't you give Torontonians the choice they deserve?

Tooker Gomberg for Mayor
834-2453

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Letters to the Editor
Toronto Star
One Yonge Street
Toronto, ON M5E 1E6

Dear Editor: Are we reading a newspaper or fairy tale, when Royson James tells us (Oct 25th) that Mayor Lastman has "virtually no one to challenge him as mayor", and that "Lastman knows homelessness".

Really? When was Lastman homeless? Has Mel slept among the homeless outside city hall, as has mayoral candidate Tooker Gomberg?

Gomberg, by the way, when he was an Edmonton city councillor, was the author of Edmonton's waste management facility that Mel so vulgarly seized upon for a photo op, after having the gall to insist that we dump Toronto's garbage in Kirkland Lake.

Mel's not exactly the swiftest salmon in the stream. I haven't heard him utter one intelligent thought on garbage, housing, education, health care, transportation, poverty, or the environment. Is the corporate-funded media going to continue to glorify the shallow, self-serving antics of corporate-funded candidates - federal, municipal or otherwise -- or are you going to report the good news that voters have a choice? Yours truly Anne Hansen

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