Here’s three candidates Mississauga should consider before Parrish

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If Carolyn Parrish is elected mayor of Mississauga next week, it will only be due to name recognition. Hopefully, one of the contenders challenging her is able to win the day, and the mayor’s chair, by putting forward the kind of policies the city needs.

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If Parrish is leading, it’s only because she’s been hanging around Mississauga politics for far too long. Mississauga needs a new voice and no one can claim that Parrish is a new, or welcome voice.

She was the Liberal MP for the area from 1993 until 2004 when she was turfed from the Liberal caucus and forced to sit as an independent. Parrish was ejected from the Liberal caucus after expressing harsh criticism of then-U.S. president George W. Bush and told then-prime minister Paul Martin that he could “go to hell” if he didn’t like what she said.

She was a Mississauga councillor from 2006 until 2010, lost her re-election bid and then lost a 2011  byelection to Bonnie Crombie. In  2014, she won a council seat by replacing Crombie who was elected mayor.

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Parrish has the support of 29% of decided voters in the city, according to a survey by Liaison Strategies. That’s five points ahead of her nearest competitor, but is a drop from 37% support a month earlier.

There are also still 16% of voters who are undecided, and Parrish’s nine-point drop shows that voters aren’t necessarily cemented in whom to vote for. With low voter turnout, the right candidate could turn things around and steal the day.

Dipika Damerla is the candidate currently in second, according to Liaison, with 24% support. She was a Liberal MPP and cabinet minister under Kathleen Wynne who ran successfully for council after losing in the 2018 provincial election.

Her big winning promise is to dump the bike lane extension on Bloor St in Mississauga. That’s likely to be seen as “controversial” among “experts” and the chattering classes, but popular with voters who live there and who have to drive through the area.

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She’s also appealing to NIMBY voters by saying that any growth in Mississauga must be the right type of growth. When most politicians are pitching to voters with a promise of more housing to tackle affordability, Damerla is pitching to existing homeowners worried about their home values.

Alvin Tedjo, in third with 19% of decided voters, is pitching to homeowners upset at the rising property tax rates. He is pledging to freeze property taxes until at least 2026 if elected mayor, calling it an affordability pledge.

Tedjo can already point to voting to cut taxes at city hall twice and a successful move to legalize playing street hockey and basketball during his short time on council. Issues like playing street hockey or basketball may seem small, but the bans imposed by bureaucrats are the types of issues that drive residents crazy when it comes to dealing with city hall.

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Stephen Dasko is the dark horse to defeat Parrish; according to Liaison, he has just 12% support. But given recent moves in polling and a high number of undecided voters, he has an outside chance.

Dasko is promising to work on affordability and community safety, specifically pointing to auto thefts, gun violence and street racing. He is promising to reduce the speed limit on residential streets and to review the Bloor St bike lanes.

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Like the others, Dasko has been around politics for a while; he worked for years at Queen’s Park with the Progressive Conservatives but also has spent time in the private sector, including as chief operating officer for a tech company.

With a week to go before the June 10 election, voters still have a chance to make up their minds.

Any of the three other candidates – out of a total field of 20 – would make a far better choice for mayor than Parrish. It’s time for voters to look at the candidates and see which one aligns with their priorities.

Voting for a candidate just because you remember their name, for all the wrong reasons, isn’t the best way to elect a mayor.

Parrish has name recognition, but not for the right reasons.

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