Good Friday. A good Friday for another installment of Meet A Mayoral Candidate!
In the spotlight this week… Wendell Brereton For Mayor!
With the 1st unofficial mayoral debate officially behind us and nothing much gleaned from it aside from the fact that none of the candidates who have been mysteriously tapped as “serious” contenders have given us any reason to vote for them (and plenty why we shouldn’t), it is timely that we present to you the Wendell Brereton candidacy. One of the 19 registered candidates uninvited to Monday’s Summit of Giants®™©, even a cursory glance at Mr. Brereton’s website reveals the omission to be a glaring gaffe on the part of debate organizer, Councillor Mike Del Grande. Candidate Brereton possesses a platform packed with details in such depth that puts the front running campaigns to shame.
A 12 year veteran of the OPP, Mr. Brereton calls himself an entrepreneur and activist. Many of his approaches reflect that dual sensibility, with a heavy emphasis on promoting public-private enterprises in areas ranging from transit to waste and energy management while showing a Keynesian predilection for government spending during a recession on things like child care. 
He is for road tolls albeit much more modest than the $5 proposed by Sarah Thomson. Brereton would also introduce fees for bike permits as part of a very interesting approach to dealing with cyclists and traffic that is worth further exploration. His thoughts on the matter underline just how empty the bike lane debate that’s been going on between the “serious” candidates has been. Nothing but pure puffery.
This is true of almost every aspect of Wendell Brereton’s candidacy. After reading through his platform and watching his announcement video, we asked for some further details of his campaign and were almost immediately presented with 7 pages! Unlike his higher profile rivals, Mr. Brereton is not merely sloganeering. He appears to be slowly putting together a… what you call that?… A vision thing. A vision for the city. A vision for how a Mayor Brereton would lead.
What stops us up of a full fledged embrace of Wendell Brereton for Mayor is his overt and enthusiastic public embrace of his religious beliefs. A Pastor at the Glorious Church-Faith Temple, there is no doubting the importance religion plays in Mr. Brereton’s life. To a bunch of godless heathens like we here at All Fired Up in the Big Smoke, this makes us supremely uncomfortable especially when it manifests itself in an anti-gay pride position as it does in Mr. Brereton’s platform. He will have to explain himself much better than he did to us about the matter if he wants to speak to a wider audience.
On every other issue, however, Wendell Brereton deserves a fair hearing. Although excluded from Monday’s debate, he was in attendance and passed along a number of interesting points about what the candidates didn’t talk about. Waste and energy alternatives. Day care. Infrastructure. Serious plans about transit in the face of the provincial governments $4 billion renege delay. All important matters Mr. Brereton has views on and ideas for implementing.
How we ensure that he secures a place on stage at the next all candidates debate is in and of itself a matter for debate. Better civic minds than ours are at work devising a formula to allow serious candidates like Wendell Brereton in the door. Although at this still early stage in the campaign, there is little reason to exclude anyone from the fray and arbitrarily handicap the race. 
The time for winnowing comes later after we’ve had an opportunity to look at and assess all the candidates. Yes, that paves the way for the true fringe candidates, the cranks and crackpots (as if a few of those haven’t already slipped past the gatekeepers) to let loose. But we do live in a democracy last I heard. Everyone’s voice must be heard. It will be worth the effort for the exposure it would bring to viable and significant candidates like Wendell Brereton.
When asked our requisite question, If the present mayor would like his legacy to be that of the Transit Mayor, how would a Mayor Brereton like to see his legacy written?, he responded: Mayor Brereton, the Innovator. That hardly does him justice in our opinion. A little too prosaic. So let us supply our own answer to the question: Mayor Brereton, bringing 22nd-century thinking to 21st-century problems.
— dutifully submitted by Cityslikr
Open letter to Mr. Delgrande on the Mayoral Debate he is hosting this evening (Sent to Globe and Mail):
It is quite disappointing in a race with over 25 candidates we will hear from 6. What is more egregious is the organizer’s characterization of other less known candidates as “fringe” whose alternative voices he cautions will turn the evident into a “zoo”. (See Globe and Mail March 29).
Such blatant disrespect for those who also which to serve Toronto is a continuation of exclusionary practices. A democratic system Mr Delgrande is a participatory one in which informed citizens have the right to exercise their choice based on reasoned exposure to ALL candidates’ platforms. You’ve obscured this process with your minute selection of debaters. Are all the colors and facets of democracy only captured in YOUR eyes Mr. Delgrande? If so, it is my regret to inform you of your shortsightedness sir. … See More
Let me put you on notice that, “The subaltern DOES speak, most recently through the voice of candidate WENDELL BRERETON. Further, that speech ECHOES in the city of Toronto where the masses ARE listening!”
It is my hope the Globe and Mail and other media outlets will take up the mantel of democracy providing a forum for alternative voices in the absence of such considerations.
I AM the public, my vote grants me the RIGHT to be SELECTIVE about BY WHOM I am served despite Mr. Delgrande’s want to curtail and control who and what is on offer!
Pleasant Valley
YOU DON’T HAVE THE RIGHT TO SPEAK!
This is what a city councilor has told candidate Pastor Wendell Brereton who has registered to run for major office but was not given the right to speak in the first mayoral debate held on March 29/2010
Be aware that as a citizen you are told that you have the right to attempt to run for office but you have no right to campaign on an equal footing. The debate went on for almost 3 hours, The media covered their own. The ethnic media was nonexistent. The ethnic constituents stayed home.
How can men and women of the media and ethnic origins sit in their seats of influence, and not register to the fact that the voice of your demographic is being silenced?
We are allowing them to run and control us and if we allow them to do it to us they will also do it to our children when they grow up. Shame on us, Shame on us all!
Will candidates like Pastor Wendell Brereton continue to be shut out?
AS A HISPANIC WOMAN I AM RAISING MY VOICE!!!
HELP TO RAISE OUR VOICES WE DO HAVE THE RIGHT TO SPEAK!
Here is a link to his profile were you will be able to see his platform
http://www.wendellbrereton.com
NEED TO SHARE MY my biting mad open letter to the Globe and Mail regarding Wendell Brereton and other candidates being barred from the first debate. My sentiments and resolve remain as they are stated below. Beyond my contention that Brereton is a MAJOR contender, I believe in an equitable political process. If the system of election remains flawed how can we expect the administration of that same system to be any better? Thanks for your advocacy, drive and efforts to get the word out.
Yours as we forward in Christ and collective progress,
Jan Anderson
LETTER AS SUBMITTED TO GLOBE AND MAIL (MARCH 29, 2010):
Open letter to Mr. Del Grande on the Mayoral Debate he is hosting this evening (Sent to Globe and Mail):
It is quite disappointing in a race with over 25 candidates we will hear from 6. What is more egregious is the organizer’s characterization of other less known candidates as “fringe” whose alternative voices he cautions will turn the evident into a “zoo”. (See Globe and Mail March 29).
Such blatant disrespect for those who also wish to serve Toronto is a continuation of exclusionary practices. A democratic system Mr Del Grande is a participatory one in which informed citizens have the right to exercise their choice based on reasoned exposure to ALL candidates’ platforms. You’ve obscured this process with your minute selection of debaters. Are all the colors and facets of democracy only captured in YOUR eyes Mr. Del Grande? If so, it is my regret to inform you of your shortsightedness sir.
Let me put you on notice that, “The subaltern DOES speak, most recently through the voice of candidate WENDELL BRERETON. Further, that speech ECHOES in the city of Toronto where the masses ARE listening!”
(See for yourself http://www.wendellbrereton.com)
It is my hope the Globe and Mail and other media outlets will take up the mantel of democracy providing a forum for alternative voices in the absence of such considerations.
I AM the public, my vote grants me the RIGHT to be SELECTIVE about BY WHOM I am served despite Mr. Delgrande’s want to curtail and control who and what is on offer!
Jan Public (with the ear, shoulder, friendship and fellowship of John Public, the massive, the muted, the muzzled, the many ready to BELIEVE)
MAYOR PASTOR WENDELL BRERETON – is on !
April 10 2010 from 6 to 8 pm on radio
CKLN 88.1 FM
Pingback: Tweets that mention Meet A Mayoral Candidate — Part VII « All Fired Up In The Big Smoke -- Topsy.com
pretty enlightening comments about pastor wendell brereton on rob ford’s personal blog : http://www.robfordmayor.com/2010/08/05/pastor-wendell-brereton-buttermilk-pancakes-with-cinnamon-and-bananas/