July 5, 2022

Winnipeg
19° C, Partly cloudy

Full Forecast

Contact Us Subscribe Manage Subscription Chat with us
Log in Create Free Account Help Chat with us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertising Contact
    • Submit a News Tip
    • Subscribe to Newsletters

    • Finding your
      information

    • My Account
    • Manage my Subscription
    • Change Password

    • Grid View
    • List View
    • Compact View
    • Text Size
    • Translate

    • Log Out
    • Log in
    • Create Free Account
    • Help

    • Grid View
    • List View
    • Compact View
    • Text Size
    • Translate
  • Coronavirus Coverage
  • Replica E-Edition
    • About the E-Edition
    • Winnipeg Free Press
    • Community Review East
    • Community Review West
  • Above the Fold
  • Front page
  • Arts & Life
    • All Arts & Life
    • The Arts
    • Autos
    • Books
    • Book Club
    • Cannabis
    • Celebrities
    • Diversions
    • Puzzles
    • Environment
    • Events
    • Faith
    • Food & Drink
    • Your Health
    • Life & Style
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Science & Technology
    • TV
    • Travel
  • Business
    • All Business
    • Agriculture
    • Personal Finance
    • Manitoba's Top Employers
  • Canada
  • Local
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Columnists
    • Editorials
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Send a Letter to the Editor
  • Sports
    • All Sports
    • Amateur
    • Auto Racing
    • Blue Bombers
    • Curling
    • Football
    • Goldeyes
    • Golf
    • High School
    • Hockey
    • Horse Racing
    • Winnipeg Jets
    • Manitoba Moose
    • WHL
    • MLB
    • NBA
    • Olympics
    • Soccer
  • World
  • Reader BridgeNEW
  • WFP EventsNEW
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Advertising
    • Contact Us
    • Carrier Positions & Retailer Requests
    • FP Newspapers Inc.
    • History
    • Internships
    • Job Opportunities
    • News Café
    • Privacy Policy
    • Retail Locations
    • Staff Biographies
    • Terms and Conditions
  • Archives
  • Free Press Community Review
    • All Free Press Community Review News
    • East Edition
    • West Edition
    • Sports
    • Events
    • Contact Us
    • E-Editions
  • Classifieds
  • Contests
  • Coupons
    • All Coupons
    • Staples Copy & Print Coupons
    • Ripley's Aquariums Coupons
    • The Bay Coupons
    • Staples Canada Coupons
    • Altitude Sports Coupons
    • Nike Coupons
    • Tuango Coupons
    • Ebay Canada Coupons
    • Sport Chek Coupons
    • Roots Coupons
  • LifestylesNEW
    • All Lifestyles
    • Business Hub
    • Community
    • Drink & Dine
    • Life
    • Wellness
    • Whiskers & Wings
    • Sponsored Articles
  • Homes
    • Property Listings
    • Featured News
    • Renovation and design
    • New homes
    • Resale homes
  • Newsletters
  • Obituaries
  • Puzzles
  • Photo and Book store
  • More

©2022 FP Newspaper Inc.

Close
  • Quick Links

    • Coronavirus Coverage
    • Federal Election
    • Above the Fold
    • Home
    • Local
    • Canada
    • World
    • Classifieds
    • Special Coverage
    • Newsletters
    • Obituaries
    • Photo and Book store
    • Archives
    • Contests
    • Publications
    • Sponsored Content
    • Privacy Policy

    Ways to support us

    • Pay it Forward program
    • Subscribe
    • Support Faith coverage
    • Support Arts coverage
  • Replica E-Edition

    • About the E-Edition
    • Winnipeg Free Press
    • Community Review East
    • Community Review West

    Business

    • All Business
    • Agriculture
    • Personal Finance
  • Arts & Life

    • All Arts & Life
    • The Arts
    • Autos
    • Books
    • Cannabis
    • Celebrities
    • Diversions
    • Puzzles
    • Environment
    • Events
    • Faith
    • Food & Drink
    • Your Health
    • Life & Style
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Science & Technology
    • TV
    • Travel
  • Sports

    • All Sports
    • Amateur
    • Auto Racing
    • Blue Bombers
    • Curling
    • Football
    • Goldeyes
    • Golf
    • High School
    • Hockey
    • Horse Racing
    • Winnipeg Jets
    • Manitoba Moose
    • WHL
    • MLB
    • NBA
    • Olympics
    • Soccer
  • Opinion

    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Columnists
    • Editorials
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Send a Letter to the Editor

    Media

    • All Media
    • Photo Galleries
    • Videos

    Homes

    • Property Listings
    • Featured News
    • Renovation and design
    • New homes
    • Resale homes
  • Canstar Community News

    • All Free Press Community Review News
    • East Edition
    • West Edition
    • Sports
    • Events
    • Contact Us
    • E-Editions
  • Coupons

    • All Coupons
    • Staples Copy & Print Coupons
    • Ripley's Aquariums Coupons
    • The Bay Coupons
    • Staples Canada Coupons
    • Altitude Sports Coupons
    • Nike Coupons
    • Tuango Coupons
    • Ebay Canada Coupons
    • Sport Chek Coupons
    • Roots Coupons
  • About Us

    • About Us
    • Advertising
    • Contact Us
    • Carrier Positions & Retailer Requests
    • FP Newspapers Inc.
    • History
    • Internships
    • Job Opportunities
    • News Café
    • Privacy Policy
    • Retail Locations
    • Staff Biographies
    • Terms and Conditions
The Free Press
Articles Read
Your Balance +tax
Day Pass Till
Day Pass
    • Contact Us
    • Advertising Contact
    • Report an Error
    • Send a Letter to the Editor
    • Staff Biographies
    • Submit a News Tip
    • Subscribe to Newsletters

    • Finding your
      information

    • Log in
    • Create Account
    • Help
    • Chat with us

    • Grid View
    • List View
    • Compact View
    • Text Size
    • Translate
    • My Account
    • Manage My Subscription
    • Change Password
    • Chat with us

    • Grid View
    • List View
    • Compact View
    • Text Size
    • Translate

    • Log Out
Log in Create Account Contact Us
Contact Us Manage Subscription
  • Sections
  • Local
  • Arts & Life
    • All Arts & Life
    • The Arts
    • Autos
    • Books
    • Diversions
    • Environment
    • Faith
    • Food & Drink
    • Health
    • Movies
    • Music
    • TV
    • Travel
  • Business
    • All Business
    • Agriculture
    • Personal Finance
    • Manitoba's Top Employers
  • Sports
    • All Sports
    • Amateur
    • Blue Bombers
    • Curling
    • Football
    • Goldeyes
    • High School
    • Hockey
    • Winnipeg Jets
    • Manitoba Moose
    • WHL
    • MLB
    • NBA
    • Soccer
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Columnists
    • Editorials
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Send a Letter to the Editor
  • E-Edition
  • Homes
  • Classifieds
    • All Classifieds
    • Announcements
    • Automotive
    • Careers
    • Garage Sales
    • Merchandise
    • Pets
    • Real Estate
    • Rentals
    • Services
  • Lifestyles
    • Business Hub
    • Community
    • Drink & Dine
    • Life
    • Manitoba’s Top Employers
    • Wellness
    • Whiskers & Wings
    • Sponsored Articles
  • Coupons
    • All Coupons
    • Staples Copy & Print
    • Ripley's Aquariums
    • The Bay
    • Staples Canada
    • Altitude Sports
    • Nike
    • Tuango
    • Ebay Canada
    • Sport Chek
    • Roots
  • Obituaries
  • Subscribe$1.50 for 5 months
Home Arts & Life Arts & Entertainment Books

Advertisement

Advertise With Us

In Conversation with Philip Slayton

By: Bartley Kives
Posted: 3:00 AM CDT Saturday, May. 16, 2015

  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Print
  • Email
  • Save to Read Later

In almost every corner of Canada, big-city mayors are behaving poorly. Former Toronto mayor Rob Ford is only the most famous example.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/5/2015 (2607 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In almost every corner of Canada, big-city mayors are behaving poorly. Former Toronto mayor Rob Ford is only the most famous example.

In London, Ont., former mayor Joe Fontana was convicted of fraud. Former Montreal mayor Michael Applebaum and Laval's ex-mayor Gilles Vaillancourt face criminal charges. Former Brampton mayor Susan Fennell was investigated by police. Former Winnipeg mayor Sam Katz and former Halifax mayor Peter Kelly left office under clouds of scandal.

Canada's spate of municipal malfeasance is the subject of Mayors Gone Bad, a new book by Toronto author, lawyer and former law-school dean Philip Slayton, due on shelves this Tuesday.

Slayton appears at McNally Robinson on May 26 to discuss Ford, Katz and Canada's other illustrious mayors. In the meantime, he offered the Free Press an explanation for the country's disappointing collection of big-city leaders.

 

Free Press: How did Canada end up with so many bad mayors?

Philip Slayton: It's a good question. What I try to do in the book is make a connection between each spectacularly bad mayor and the nature of the office, which does not confer a great deal of power.

If the job carries a lot of expectations from the people who voted for you, but you have no ability to fulfil those expectations, you're doomed to disappointment. So no politically savvy person who had other options available to themselves would take the job.

 

FP: How does this explain Toronto winding up with a crack-smoking buffoon such as Rob Ford?

PS: I don't think it completely explains a large variety of cases. It neatly explains some of the bad mayors, like Peter Kelly of Halifax and Larry O'Brien in Ottawa.

Every case is different and difficult. The reason you have second-raters in these jobs is it is a second-rate job. People of political substance don't want these jobs.

 

FP: What's with the seemingly competent western mayors -- Naheed Nenshi in Calgary, Vancouver's Gregor Robertson and Edmonton's Don Iveson?

PS: I think the western triangle of mayoral goodness -- which may pass as a quadrangle, with the new mayor of Winnipeg, I don't know -- may not last.

I detect a souring of public pronouncements from Nenshi. He had that tremendous moment during Calgary's flood, but I think the cold reality is setting in.

He's at the mercy of the province. He's started complaining bitterly about that. He's trying to get a new deal from the premier of Alberta and it's not helped by the fact by the premier seems to change every couple of days.

I think (Nenshi is) destined to leave.

 

FP: Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman is using the same language about wanting a better deal, but isn't offering up specifics.

PS: All mayors say that. All mayors of major cities say they need a better deal from the province, but no mayor has any idea what this deal would look like.

Katz would always say since Winnipeg has 70 per cent of province's population, that should translate into action at election time. But it hasn't.

It's really difficult to know what the solution is. Cities are a mess: most Canadians live there and most services are provided there. But the provinces don't want to want to give up any power and the feds don't give a s .

 

FP: You devoted a chapter to Sam Katz. What's your take on him?

PS: On the one hand, he struck me as a clearly intelligent man and good-humoured person. But on the other hand, the history of his mayoralty -- as you know better than anybody -- shows a tone-deafness to certain principles, most notably conflict of interest.

It seems there was maybe an unfulfilled promise. He could have been better than he was.

In some ways he was similar to Larry O'Brien of Ottawa, who thought the city needed to be run like a business. Of course, the city is not a business and it can't be run like a business.

Some of these guys are just not very well-educated. They enter the job without any background (in urban affairs) and just hit the ground, making decisions.

 

The Free Press | Newsletter

Embrace your inner bookworm

Join the Free Press Book Club for monthly picks and online meetings.

Join the Free Press Book Club
Sign Up

FP: So what's the future for Canadian cities?

PS: I think it's pretty gloomy. I wish I didn't have to say that. It's hard to see the way out.

Really, if we were rebuilding the country from scratch, we could give cities substantial constitutional status and allow them to raise their own taxes and develop their own revenue streams. But we're not going to be able to do that. What's essential is everyone in the country wakes up and realizes this is a big issue. Otherwise, our cities are going to continue to decline.

 

Philip Slayton interviewed Bartley Kives for his book. Both sit on the board of PEN Canada, a non-profit organization that protects freedom of speech. This interview has been edited and condensed.

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca

If you value coverage of Manitoba’s arts scene, help us do more.
Your contribution of $10, $25 or more will allow the Free Press to deepen our reporting on theatre, dance, music and galleries while also ensuring the broadest possible audience can access our arts journalism.
BECOME AN ARTS JOURNALISM SUPPORTER Click here to learn more about the project.

Advertisement

Advertise With Us

  • Report Error
  • Submit a Tip
  • Refund
  • The Free Press is certified by

The Winnipeg Free Press invites you to share your opinion on this story in a letter to the editor. A selection of letters to the editor are published daily.

To submit a letter:
• fill out the form on this page, or
• email letters@freepress.mb.ca, or
• mail Letters to the Editor, 1355 Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R2X 3B6.

Letters must include the writer’s full name, address, and a daytime phone number. Letters are edited for length and clarity.

Advertisement

Advertise With Us

Top