Scanned, recopied or Internet copy, if there are errors, please e-mail me with corrections: Opening comments: More at the end. National Post - May 20, 2010 - By National Post Kelly McParland: Mississauga defers putting a Carolyn Parrish served as a Liberal MP for 13 years. She held, according to her biography, "many positions of responsibility." But the enduring image of her -- the one thing everyone remembers -- is that she stomped on a George Bush doll on TV, announced "I have absolutely no loyalty to this team," and got kicked out of caucus as a result. Since departing federal politics she's been in Mississauga, where she sits on the local council and spends her time trying to undermine Mayor Hazel McCallion, the 89-year-old local legend who has been running the Toronto suburb with notable success for 31 years. Parrish has never been a subtle person, and her campaign against McCallion has been about as delicate as a hand grenade. She backed a $2.5 million judicial inquiry into a real estate deal involving the mayor's son, which would benefit her own ambitions if it managed to drop a little mud at the mayor's door. She fired off a memo attacking McCallion as “ungrateful, ungracious and downright rude” for failing to show adequate appreciation for some infrastructure funding sent Mississauga's way. (Yes, Carolyn Parrish calling someone else 'ungracious.' Pit bulls would guffaw.) She accused council of spending "like drunken sailors" under McCallion's tenure. Leaving a Mississauga restaurant last year, she spotted a poster advertising a rally in support of McCallion, tore it from the wall, ripped it to pieces and stomped on it, reprising her famous George Bush act. The strategy, like the tactics, isn't complicated: Get as much attention as possible. Municipal elections don't draw enormous crowds of voters. A candidate with high name-recognition usually has an advantage over unknowns. Parrish evidently hopes that when McCallion eventually retires (she says she has no plans for that and intends to seek re-election later this year), people will forget how she got to be well known and put a mark beside her name. Parrish's campaign of bluster has reached such a point that Mississauga council is considering a measure that might put a crimp in her efforts. Tired of the back-biting, councillors were to vote yesterday on a code of conduct that urges fellow members to act with "decorum" and use "respectful language and behaviour in relation to all of those in attendance." In the end the vote was deferred because, according to Councillor Katie Mahoney, "We're 12 entirely different people with 12 entirely different ways of representing their community." In other words, if Parrish wants to represent her community by regularly making a spectacle of herself, it's her decision. Too bad -- Mississauga had a chance to do something intelligent. Instead they'll get more Carolyn Parrish. Comments by others - 11 - to this web-page at time of posting; by Maximum Cat Carolyn Parrish has done done nothing productive in a lengthy career in politics and is notable for nothing other than throwing public tantrums whenever she feels she isn't getting enough attention. People like Parrish who throw tantrums and show no respect for their office or for others, deserve no respect. She is an apt symbol of everything that is wrong with this country and the morons what vote for her. Pride in one's own country or community will never be achieved simply by trashing other countries or communities. Parrish's No. 1 accomplishment has been living well on the taxpayers' dime. As bad as this critter is, she represents the mode, not the outlier... Which rather explains the sad state of the Canadian *cough* "political class" doesn't it? It really speaks volumes about those who keep electing her You get the government you elect. The people of Mississauga elected Parrish to the city council so they got exactly what they voted for, and why would they expect any different. Besides, Parrish is a Liberal which means a lot in and around Toronto. It's no secret that many of Parrish's constituents have the same philosophy and continue to elect her for her stance against Israel (like that should have anything to do with civic politics) Parrish is Elisabeth May on mescaline after watching a pro-Palestine video. As RogersJi pointed out, she gets elected. That she does so neatly encapsulates many of the reasons why the ROC considers Toronto a third-world kleptocracy, with a condition that is contagious. Will Carolyn Parrish and her gang rip down signs during the next election? Or will they do it only when they are drunk? Kinda makes Mel Lastman, Mayor Miller, Bob Rae & McGuinty look good. Way to go TO! The parrish's of the world are purely a product of the cerebral deficit that exists within the electorate. Many of whom inhabit the media sector. Remember she IS on councel so that means she was voted for more than someone else. Mind blowing as that is. Home Page - Main Table of Contents - Back up a page - Back to Top [COMMENTS BY DON B. - ] |
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