Brampton’s MPs and MPPs Are Lining Up Behind Linda Jeffrey

Brampton | Ontario | Latest News | Opinion | Politics |

Published October 17, 2018 at 11:40 am

The hotly contested race for Brampton mayor between incumbent Linda Jeffrey and Patrick Brown is really heating up.

The hotly contested race for Brampton mayor between incumbent Linda Jeffrey and Patrick Brown is really heating up.

So much so that the perception of factions that formed during the last four years, when there was a perceived “anti-Jeffrey” faction and a “pro-Jeffrey” faction, have never been more pronounced as various council candidates line up behind either of the “frontrunners.”

Now, Brampton’s contingent of MPs and MPPs have made their voices heard, as evident in this campaign rally last Sunday for the mayor.

Jeffrey was accompanied by federal Liberal MPs Raj Grewal, Sonia Sidhu and Ruby Sahota, as well as NDP MPPs Gurratan Singh, Sara Singh, Kevin Yarde, as well as PC MPP Prabmeet Sakaria.

The ties between Jeffrey’s provincial and municipal allies are quite close, as Sara Singh was seen campaigning for Rowena Santos, who is running for city councillor in Wards 1 and 5.

Santos was an Ontario NDP organizer, which doesn’t make this surprising. But what is surprising is that there are some subtle moves from recent NDP policy announcements that, coincidentally, could benefit Mayor Jeffrey politically speaking.

Gurratan made an announcement on ending postal code rating for auto insurance (which has gotten bipartisan support) and the three NDP MPPs made a hard play to get funding for a third hospital for Brampton (a motion they introduced in the legislature which was ultimately voted down by the Ford government).

Meanwhile, Grewal and Sakaria took a more subtle approach with their support of Jeffrey, calling for a united council to get Brampton moving forward and asking people to vote on October 22.

“We may be from two different political parties, but we have a lot in common when it comes to Brampton. We love this city, and we understand how important this upcoming election is,” said Grewal, as he and Sakaria stood outside the Gore Meadows Community Centre.

Brown recently snagged a high profile endorsement from former Ontario premier Bill Davis, but not a lot of current Tories are supporting him. In fact, it seems many are siding with Mayor Jeffrey, such as Sakaria. Which is ironic because Sakaria was one of those “star” PC candidates that Brown recruited to run while the latter was still the party leader.

No matter who you vote for, there’s no denying this municipal campaign in Brampton has been riveting to watch to say the least, especially with politicians from all three levels of government weighing in.

The most important thing is to vote, and then we will see who will be tasked with leading Brampton for the next four years come October 22.

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