2010 grade: C- 2009 grade: C I’d love to play poker with Jerry Blumenthal, because he’s got a completely predictable tell: his tie. When he wears a loud tie, he’s strident and combative; subdued or no tie, and he’s reserved and agreeable. When council discusses buses, Blumenthal wears a loud tie, and thrashes through the […]
Tim Bousquet
Posted inNews + Opinion
Peter Kelly
2010 grade: C 2009 grade: C- 2008 grade: D 2007 grade: D You know what would be super cool? If we had a mayor who was busted for trying to smuggle a gun onto an airplane. Alas, we’ve only got a mayor who distractedly brings a forgotten bullet through security. But that’s Peter Kelly for […]
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Sue Uteck
2010 grade: C 2009 grade: C+ 2008 grade: B- 2007 grade: B Last December, Sue Uteck appeared on CBC’s Information Morning the day after I did to call me out on my months-long investigation into the “tax reform” proposal. “What does he know?” asked Uteck rhetorically. “He just sits there and Twitters through council meetings.” […]
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Lorelei Nicoll
2010 grade: C 2009 grade: C- Lorelei Nicoll is friendly to a fault, which is starting to become a problem: I’ve yet to hear her raise her voice in angry disagreement, or give that passionate speech that stakes out a clear position, detractors be damned. Her natural instinct is to position herself exactly in the […]
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Jennifer Watts
2010 grade: A- 2009 grade: B I’ve never before awarded an A grade and thought I never would, lest I be accused of getting soft. So I searched high and low looking for a reason to knock Watts down a letter grade—I reviewed my notes to see if Watts has ever made a boneheaded argument, […]
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Russell Walker
2010 grade: B 2009 grade: B- 2008 grade: C- 2001 grade: D Russell Walker is still riding the success of his anti-“tax reform” work. Readers will recall that last year Walker single-handedly derailed the move to place transit taxes under a “tax reform”-like fee for service system, as opposed to the traditional assessment-based system. Walker […]
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Gloria McCluskey
2010 grade: B+ 2009 grade: B- 2008 grade: B 2007 grade: C These are cynical times, when any number of scam artists and bullshitters are trying to pull one or another devious scheme over on the public, and especially so at City Hall, where bullshit sometimes takes on a life of its own, up becomes […]
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Debbie Hum
2010 grade: D- 2009 grade: D+ 2008 grade: C+ 2007 grade: C+ Debbie Hum cries—a lot. Initially, a few years ago, Hum only cried when council was having a moment of silence for a recently deceased person she used to work with, and who would fault her for that? Then, she started crying when just […]
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Darren Fisher
2010 grade: C+ 2009 grade: N/A Darren Fisher is the newest councillor, having won last summer’s byelection to replace Andrew Younger, who moved on to Province House. Fisher is the anti-politician, content to leave the grandstanding to others. When he does speak, he’s short and to the point: “I support this” or “I won’t be […]
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Linda Mosher
2010 grade: B- 2009 grade: C- 2008 grade: C- 2007 grade: D Linda Mosher marches to her own drummer—sometimes directly into battle, sometimes right off the cliff. Like Dawn Sloane, Mosher has a large personality that sometimes annoys people and, as with Sloane, that’s beginning to score her points in the report card department. Mosher […]
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Bill Karsten
2010 grade: C+ 2009 grade: C+ 2008 grade: C 2007 grade: C- I was having a hard time deciding whether Bill Karsten should get a B- or a C+, so I went back and read what I wrote last year, and here’s what I found: “I was wavering between a B- and C+ on this […]
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Dawn Sloane
2010 grade: B+ 2009 grade: B 2008 grade: B 2007 grade: B- The best thing about Dawn Sloane is that so many people hate her. You wouldn’t believe the expletives, putdowns and rude descriptions that are tossed my way concerning Sloane; they even make me blush—they’re that bad. She must be doing something right. In […]
