Last week, we asked all municipal election candidates to provide a 300-word synopsis of their campaign. It’s the same template we’ve used before: We asked them why they’re running, what issues face the next council, what they hope to achieve, and what skills they bring to the table.
We added one question this year: Whether candidates are fans of Donald Trump. A yes/no answer.
To some candidates, we had no business asking the question.
Normally, this isn’t an issue we would address, but these aren’t normal times.
Since December of 2024, Trump has attacked Canada’s sovereignty with his 51st state comments, and in late August, he launched an economic attack on our nation with punishing tariffs that violate current trade agreements.
Anyone who uses social media knows there is a group of local residents who unreservedly praise the U.S. president no matter what the topic. They’re loud and proud in their online groups, but you won’t see them holding Trump rallies in public.
In the wake of comments by Prime Minister Mark Carney, Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre and provincial leaders that Canadians need to stand together, the answer to the question should be simple.
Apparently, MAGA loyalty Trumps (pun intended) loyalty to Canada.
They have a right to those opinions.
What isn’t right is for candidates to refuse to publicly declare Trump loyalty for fear of losing support of anti-Trump voters. Some candidates apparently want to skate through and appease MAGA while refusing to tell the rest of their community how they feel.
That’s not honesty; that’s not transparency, and that’s not leadership.
A lack of courage is exactly what we don’t need in local government.
We’ve never told residents who to support, and we aren’t now. If they want to elect MAGA candidates, so be it. We are telling them they need to demand honesty from their candidates and know what they’re voting for.
I don’t have a problem with answering the question at all. No, I do not support Trump. He wants to annex Canada. A little background: I lived in NYC in the 80’s and 90’s, when Trump decided to start attracting attention to himself in the media. He is now as he was then; only now he has a criminal record to prove it.