\u201cI think it\u2019s very fluid,\u201d said Councillor Brad Butt (a Parrish supporter) of the race. \u201cI just don\u2019t know what the ballot question is going to be when people actually get there for the mayoral race.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Bonnie Crombie and Carolyn Parrish at their first debate of the mayoral race<\/p>\n
Andrew Francis Wallace\/Toronto Star<\/p>\n
The Feud<\/p>\n
In 2023, Carolyn Parrish signed herself and her husband up for provincial Liberal memberships and voted for Bonnie Crombie to win the leadership.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo get rid of her,\u201d she said, cracking a smile, because she knows this is just the kind of comment she shouldn\u2019t make. \u201cI wanted the job.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before entering the council chamber, Parrish was a teacher turned school trustee turned Liberal MP turned independent MP, infamous for her barbs<\/a> about George W. Bush and the invasion of Iraq that included the hot mic comment: \u201cDamn Americans, I hate those bastards!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Carolyn Parrish on election night in 2000, where she retook her Mississauga Centre federal seat. She is pictured with Ward 6 Councillor George Carlson, who is running her current mayoral campaign.\u00a0<\/p>\n David Cooper\/Toronto Star<\/p>\n When she left Ottawa in 2005, there was speculation that she\u2019d take a run at the mayor\u2019s chair when McCallion decided to retire\u00a0\u2014 it turned out that would still be almost 20 years away. In the meantime, Parrish was elected to council and became McCallion\u2019s chief antagonist.<\/p>\n Parrish lost to a McCallion-backed challenger in 2010 and so went head-to-head with Crombie for the first time in a 2011 byelection for Ward 5.<\/p>\n \u201cMayor is the dream job, no question,\u201d said Parrish from her office overlooking the city. But when McCallion finally retired in 2014, Parrish decided not to enter the race for mayor. Instead, she set her sights on the council seat left vacant by Crombie who w<\/a>as running for mayor<\/a> against Steve Mahoney.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBonnie had been here and was kind of following Hazel around carrying her purse. So I just looked at it and thought, nah, I just want to be a councillor. I was happy,\u201d Parrish said.<\/p>\n Crombie won the battle for mayor with a last-minute endorsement from McCallion, and Parrish became a councillor.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI was kind of like the mayor of Malton,\u201d she said, citing one of her proudest achievements: the Malton youth hub<\/a> that she is pushing to replicate elsewhere in the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n Then Crombie, who easily won her third term as mayor in 2022, decided to run for Liberal leader. Parrish, then 77, seized her moment, resigning her council seat to dedicate herself to winning the mayoral byelection<\/a>. She became mayor in 2024,\u00a0beating Tedjo who came in second.\u00a0<\/p>\n Parrish greets supporters during her campaign office launch. Parrish and Crombie had their campaign offices open the same afternoon<\/p>\n Lance McMillan\/Toronto Star<\/p>\n Through the campaign Parrish has periodically posted on X<\/a> a CP24 clip from her mayoral election night victory where Crombie hugs Parrish, and then steps out in front of her to the TV cameras to say she will be a \u201cformidable mayor.\u201d But there is more to it than just cheekily pointing out the praise: Crombie stepped into her spotlight and stayed there.<\/p>\n \u201cIt annoyed the hell out of me at the time. It really annoyed my family. It was like, that was your night. It\u2019s OK, I was out with the crowd and having a great time. But every once in a while I put it on because she\u2019s saying terrible things about me,\u201d said Parrish. \u201cIt\u2019s the bad part of me.\u201d<\/p>\n Crombie embraces Parrish at Parrish\u2019s mayoral election victory party in 2024 at the Mississauga Convention Centre.\u00a0<\/p>\n Richard Lautens\/Toronto Star<\/p>\n When she finally became mayor she set about doing the things she\u2019d wanted to for a long time: getting housing built faster<\/a>\u00a0and bringing in snow windrow clearing. A next term would focus on her plan to transform downtown Mississauga.\u00a0<\/p>\n Moreover, she said, she has a handshake deal with Premier Doug Ford<\/a> (unconfirmed by him at this time) that he will fix the Peel police funding formula, convincing him with a chart (reproduced in her latest election pamphlet that she wrote herself on her phone) that shows it unfairly leaves Mississauga taxpayers subsidizing Brampton.<\/p>\n Ford is rooting for her to win, she said, though she wishes he wouldn\u2019t have joked that he\u2019d send an army to support her against Crombie. There is, Parrish stresses, no army. She\u2019s been campaigning mostly as she always has in diverse Mississauga: \u201cI\u2019ve built good relationships with a lot of the ethnic groups and I just keep going with them.\u201d<\/p>\n Carolyn Parrish chose to be photographed at the Living Arts Centre, a \u201cmonstrosity\u201d and money pit next to city hall that she has vowed to redevelop into a concert venue, convention centre, housing, hotels and pedestrian boulevard. She says her vision, which is currently being studied by the city, would reshape the downtown into a proper city centre and not just buildings around Square One. Crombie has said she will cancel the \u201cvanity project\u201d if elected.<\/p>\n Nick Lachance\/Toronto Star<\/p>\n Parrish, who proudly displays photos of her five grandchildren in her office, just turned 80 and maintains her age shouldn\u2019t be a concern to voters \u2014 she\u2019s not even ruling out another term if she\u2019s still got work to do.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t plan to pass away anytime soon,\u201d she said, and her new titanium knee is in excellent working order. \u201cI have more energy than most people half my age.\u201d<\/p>\n The Return<\/p>\n Crombie weighed the call to come back until the last moment.<\/p>\n Observers of the race have\u00a0called her decision to step back in the ring extremely risky, forcing her to both persuade voters that she isn\u2019t looking to be handed her old job back and defend her own record in the first truly competitive race since she was initially elected mayor.<\/p>\n Crombie interacts with Micah Dias (4), left, Malakai Dias (3), middle, and Arya Chandra (6) right at her campaign office launch<\/p>\n Lance McMillan\/Toronto Star<\/p>\n At the Shore Grill and Grotto in Port Credit, owner Maureen O\u2019Neill-Pikul said it really irks her that Crombie\u2019s run for premier<\/a> is being held against her.<\/p>\n \u201cShe left to do something better for Ontario. She already did it for Mississauga,\u201d she said, adding that she became a fan of her during the pandemic when Crombie reached out personally to check in while restaurants were struggling.\u00a0\u201cI think we\u2019d be lucky to have her back.\u201d<\/p>\n Crombie said she felt compelled\u00a0to run because residents who see her around the city asked her to. When a group of Chinese seniors say property taxes have gotten too high, she agrees and promises to bring McCallion\u2019s \u201cfiscal responsibility\u201d back to city hall (they also say the 66-year-old is more beautiful in person than in her campaign photos). She wants to fix the problems she hears about, like from the owners of Cousins Market, whose business has suffered significantly due to traffic from the prolonged Hurontario LRT construction.<\/p>\n But she has a new idea, too: bringing in the subway extension<\/a> McCallion turned down \u2014 a plan her opponents have said is a practical non-starter, especially if actual progress is made on an all-day Milton GO line.<\/p>\n Bonnie Crombie chose to be photographed at the Hazel McCallion Central Library, renamed during Crombie\u2019s time as mayor before McCallion\u2019s 100th birthday in 2021. Crombie has referred to her mentor McCallion often through the campaign and is pledging to bring McCallion\u2019s \u201cfiscal responsibility\u201d back to city hall through property tax increases at the city that are in line with inflation. Parrish has defended her budgets, and says the city\u2019s takeover of former regionally provided services will save money in the future.<\/p>\n Lance McMillan\/Toronto Star<\/p>\n The Duel<\/p>\n The night of the now notorious Oct. 1 mayoral debate<\/a> at Food Banks Mississauga, Crombie was already on edge. She was worried about what sounded like a safety threat related to a future debate (it was the threat of an injunction rather than to her safety, it turned out).\u00a0And earlier that week she\u2019d been fielding questions about her ex-husband.<\/p>\n \u201cThat just kind of irks most strong women, right,\u201d said Christine Slota, walking up to Crombie at Meadowvale Community Centre two days before the debate. She\u2019d heard something about Parrish involving Crombie\u2019s ex-husband in her campaign. \u201cIt\u2019s dirty politics.\u201d<\/p>\n The campaign was already sharper in tone than most \u2014 Crombie launched her campaign with a blistering attack on Parrish\u2019s time as mayor<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 but to Crombie it felt like Parrish crossed a line by\u00a0doing an interview<\/a> with Crombie\u2019s ex-husband, Brian Crombie, on his Mississauga radio show and podcast (something Tedjo, Damerla and other politicians and candidates have done). Then Parrish’s campaign bought radio time on Newstalk 1010 and Brian gave her permission<\/a> to rebroadcast the interview. The gossipy details quickly circulated online.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s more her that weaponized it, but he didn\u2019t have to agree,\u201d said Crombie, adding that their children are \u201creally disappointed too.\u201d<\/p>\n Parrish denies that was her intent, she said she just thought Brian Crombie would do a good interview. He did, and her team thought it should be aired more widely, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not that devious. That would be pretty cynical thinking,\u201d Parrish said of the charge that it was done maliciously. \u201cAnd that\u2019s not me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Mississauga mayoral candidates gathered for a night of debate, hosted by Food Banks Mississauga and The Metamorphosis Network and moderated by CityNews reporter Mark McAllister.<\/p>\n It may be one of the most pivotal moments of the campaign, and marks a turning point for Tedjo, who stood to the side watching his rivals tear into each other. Though his campaign did make a statement, the moment spoke for itself. Do you want more old Mississauga politics, or someone new?<\/p>\n The Dark Horse<\/p>\n If Crombie\u2019s choice to come back seems dicey, Tedjo\u2019s decision to leave his likely safe council seat to run for mayor seemed positively ludicrous, especially once Crombie jumped back in the ring.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was really nerve-wracking,\u201d said Tedjo.<\/p>\n But his wife, a pediatric nurse, and three kids told him to go for it.<\/p>\n Alvin Tedjo chose to be photographed by the Port Credit lighthouse on Mississauga\u2019s waterfront. He says he is proud of federal funding secured to protect the Great Lakes while he was on the board of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities initiative, and the work the city has done to improve waterfront parks and public spaces.<\/p>\n Andrew Francis Wallace\/Toronto Star<\/p>\n Within the past two weeks, Tedjo\u2019s campaign has begun to snowball, beginning with an unprecedented\u00a0Peel police union endorsement<\/a> that doubled as a snub of Parrish and Crombie. It\u2019s not just the polls that are showing momentum, Tedjo added. They can\u2019t keep up with the demand for signs. Engagement is spiking on his social media. People he hasn\u2019t spoken to in decades have popped up to cheer him on.<\/p>\n Canvassing one evening in his neighbourhood with a group of volunteers including his wife and kids (\u201cMy dad is running for mayor!\u201d), Tedjo zigzagged from door to door. He leads with alluring affordability focused policies<\/a> such as freezing property taxes for two years and a property tax increase deferral program for seniors.<\/p>\n His opponents, and even some supporters, say a tax freeze ignores the realities of the budget, including the police budget increases he supported. But Tedjo maintains it can be done and sometimes\u00a0\u2014 half-grudgingly given the sibling rivalry between the cities\u00a0\u2014 he points to the effectiveness of Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown in executing his vision. <\/p>\n Alvin Tedjo supported Crombie\u2019s bid to become Premier of Ontario, but he\u2019s criticized her decision to run for mayor again as a \u201cback-up plan.\u201d<\/p>\n Sophie Bouquillon\/Toronto Star<\/p>\n While there has been sparring among them, both Parrish and Crombie have said Tedjo has been an excellent councillor and that it is a waste that, should he lose his bid for mayor, he will no longer be on council. They also both said he doesn\u2019t have the experience needed to lead the city.<\/p>\n \u201cI would say just watch us. There\u2019s so many great leaders out there who have taken on an office like this and ran with it,\u201d said Tedjo, wryly noting that at 43 he is 10 years older than New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.<\/p>\n On Thursday night, at a popular coffee shop in Ridgeway Plaza<\/a>, Tedjo held a bustling meet-and-greet. One woman said she voted for Parrish in the byelection (she appreciates Parrish is pro-Palestine<\/a>) but found the debate performance not \u201cmayoral\u201d for either Parrish or Crombie. She isn\u2019t sure the math on Tedjo\u2019s plan adds up, but, importantly, she trusts him, he is young and she thinks he will do his best.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve never been one for politics,\u201d said Ajay Chikermane, who has lived in Mississauga for 32 years. He\u2019s found Tedjo resonates over the former and current mayors. \u201cI think my three kids and their kids need a different type of leader.\u201d<\/p>\n What you need to know about Mississauga<\/p>\n When Hazel McCallion became mayor of the city of Mississauga in 1978, it was a sleepy suburb of around 250,000 people. Now it has a population of around 760,000 (just a little smaller than Brampton though new census data is coming soon). Only 22 per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot in the 2022 election, just 107,310 people.\u00a0<\/p>\n While it might have been best known for shopping landmark Square One or scenic Port Credit, Ridgeway Plaza has become an international food destination. The average house price is $899,000 and the city is projected to hit a population of one million people in the next 25 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Ghost<\/p>\n Canvassing on a street in Meadowvale, Crombie knocked on the door of a couple who seem initially unsupportive. Crombie wins them over by reminding them of her connection with McCallion.<\/p>\n McCallion \u201cshould have been Prime Minister,\u201d said the woman. \u201cAnd you\u2019d have been her assistant.\u201d<\/p>\n Fomer Mayor Hazel McCallion congratulates Bonnie Crombie at her election night victory party in 2014. Crombie\u2019s win has been credited to a late endorsement by McCallion that edged her over her opponent Steve Mahoney.<\/p>\n Bernard Weil\/Toronto Star<\/p>\n It has not been easy for Crombie to shine in the shadow of Hurricane Hazel. And now, 12 years after she was first-elected mayor, Crombie is still holding on to the seal of approval McCallion gave her back in 2014. On Friday, she touted the endorsement<\/a> of McCallion\u2019s granddaughter Erika (an antidote of sorts to a previous anti-endorsement<\/a> from McCallion\u2019s son Peter).<\/p>\n McCallion is obviously not here to speak for herself; she died more than three years ago at the age of 101.<\/p>\n And rather remarkably given their early history, McCallion became a supporter of Parrish\u2019s hard work in her retirement.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not that I think Hazel would like Carolyn to be mayor, but Hazel regretted Bonnie being mayor in her final years,\u201d said former councillor Pat Saito, a longtime friend to McCallion and supporter of Parrish.<\/p>\n More than anything, though, it is unclear if voters in 2026 will be making decisions based on what they think McCallion would have wanted.<\/p>\n Polling from Liaison Strategies found that McCallion\u2019s legacy is still important at some level to 75 per cent of voters, particularly to seniors. Only 29 per cent of all voters said McCallion\u2019s approval of their choice in mayor is very important or somewhat important.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n