Message hits home with electorate

Mayor-elect Marianne Matichuk is part of a wave of change in leadership that has swept across the province.

According to unofficial results, Matichuk defeated incumbent mayor John Rodriguez by more than 5,000 votes. In Sault Ste. Marie, Debbie Amaroso won the mayor’s chair by a margin of 800 votes over second place finisher James Caicco. In North Bay, a new mayor, Al McDonald, a former North Bay Chamber of Commerce president, topped the polls with almost 87 per cent of the vote.

“It is nice to see parts of northeastern Ontario are coming into the late 20th century let alone the 21st,” Bob Segsworth, a Laurentian University political science professor, said.

“I really think it is about the quality of the campaign, the message, and whether the message struck a chord with the electorate. Matichuk was comfortable in being critical of Mayor Rodriguez and Coun. Ted Callaghan. When she worked from a script, she came across as quite polished and professional. (But) the questions that remain are: We know what you are against — what are you for?”

He said the more positive elements of Matichuk’s platform are not very clear, other than going through the budget line-by-line to find money or being more business friendly.

He said he suspects there is not as much waste in city operations as was portrayed by Matichuk.

Segsworth said that, although Rodriguez was defeated, it was interesting to note the bulk of council was voted back in.
He said the mayor made some gaffs — from the Elton John ticket scandal to the decision not to demand the resignation of former city manager Alan Stephen.

“We should be able to get rid of people,” he noted.

When asked if the Matichuk victory was a shift to the right in local politics, Segsworth replied: “You betcha.”

Retiring city councillor Janet Gasparini said she was surprised Matichuk won the mayoral race.

“I was taken aback by this,” she said. “I have to let this (result) sink in. I guess we will learn over the next four years what it all means for us.”

Dick DeStefano, executive director of Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association, talked to about 20 senior men at his regular fitness program at the YMCA about the election the next day.

“Almost all of them voted for Matichuk,” he said. “I almost fell off my seat. They did not want John Rodriguez. They felt John Rodriguez had screwed up too many times.The (Elton John) ticket thing was always lying there in the minds of people.”

Yet the six councillors who bought Elton John tickets were re-elected, he noted.

In his opinion, the defeated mayor was a lightning rod for criticism.

“He got blamed for everything.”

He said the labour vote did not go to Rodriguez, “or the labour vote is so small now that he did not garner enough votes (from it).”

Though he did not see a lot of policy planks in Matichuk’s platform, he said there was some truth in Matichuk labeling the city as not being business friendly.

Several of his members, who are in the mining supply industry, were complaining about having to pay for what are normally considered fundamental services (sewer, water and paved roads). He said his members considered their substantial commercial taxes should have covered these essential services.

“If it is a choice between spending $8 million to provide sewer and water to the south shore of Ramsey Lake versus upgrading an industrial park, our members will lose every time.”