Election Usurped

Oct 25, 2018

Dear residents of Mississauga,

The election fever has come to an end and the results have been disheartening to say the least. The resounding determination from the residents to vote was driven by their wish for change; but the change that the majority were hoping for seems to have been stolen away from them. I would be remiss if I did not critique the less than favourable voter turnout, this year. Why have so many residents given up on this important civic duty? Collectively we can do much better than this, Mississauga. I invested, dreams, financial capital, time and effort to bring you an option that would have stood for a more accountable representation; only to be met with stark disappointment, with the re-election of the incumbent, a 76 year old politician that has been blinded by the satiety of political power and influence. 

It would have been the balsam on a wound, had any other candidate won; for now we march again, on a four year path, whereby residents’ concerns and needs are to befall deaf ears yet again.

Is the real culprit, voter apathy with a healthy dose of “wag the dog” media potion? The muffled voices of the masses that have confided in me and other candidates, with the need, and more importantly the want for change, has been silenced for another term. 

Admittedly, this was my first political election experience ever, and the dirt that I have been witness to is enough to bury the Fukushima reactors twice over. From election signs contraventions to bold lies, slander and most egregiously, the bullying of other candidates/residents/business owners into succumbing with fear; has been nothing short of deplorable. 

The old boys club circle of councillors plus mayor in our city has become a joke and the focus of a rude awakening for many to come. 

I join the many awakened residents for an anticipated early by-election in Ward 6. 

God Bless,

Elie Diab, P.Eng.