Tale of two cities

In the wake of this month's civic elections, Calgary and Toronto have received a lot of attention -- Calgary for electing Naheed Nenshi, the city's first Muslim mayor; Toronto for the election of Rob Ford, who hails from the right.  

And consider: in the House of Commons, all the political leaders outside Quebec hail from Calgary or Toronto too. But oddly, Toronto now seems to have a mayor more similar to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, while Calgary has a mayor that would be more at home with the liberal/social democratic leanings of Jack Layton and Michael Ignatieff. 

A casual observer of Canadian politics might wonder if there was some mixup  in the delivery room of the new mayors. Somehow, Calgarians got Toronto's mayor, and vice-versa.  And what is it about Calgary and Toronto that makes them so dominant/interesting in politics these days? Theories welcome. 

Comments

[Chris Baker]

Perhaps this is a variation on the "balance theory" of federal/provincial politics, where the party in power federally is most often the party out of power in the provinces. As cities become more prominent on the political scene, mayors are being voted in to "balance" the senior levels of government.

[anonlinereader]

Would be an interesting twist if politicians lived and died by their promises ?

[Mike Horn AKA Snifftester]

I always liked balance theory. But, what if it's to simplistic to make it all about the balance of power. What if voters are balancing thier collective self image. "We have can have our style without it being a cliche." In any case, it's irrational for any set of voters to be too predictable. BTW In France federal politicians like to have a municipal seat on the side. I wonder what sort of perspsective they gain that way?

[Frank Docherty]

Theory: Canada needs a hug... ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpYeekQkAdc ) ... Canada is exploiting slave labour worldwide... why does mayoral campaigns make the news???