Zuk: Off And Running

Hands up if you are surprised that Joyce Zuk may be running against Brian Masse for the Liberals in the next Federal election. No one? Anyone?

She was a Stephane Dion supporter for the Liberal leadership.

• "Joyce Zuk support Stephane Dion, who has 16 per cent of the vote. "I like what he has to say about balancing a thriving economy with sustainable development," said Zuk. "He's the only candidate speaking with any credibility about the environment and how you can have a focus on the economy without devastating our natural heritage.
  
  That's important to her, she said, and she and other Dion supporters believe it will resonate with voters because the environment is becoming a priority."

It is pretty clear to me now why Joyce decided not to run as Councillor municipally. She had said back in July that

• "she's dropping out of politics...It's time for me to find some other ways to serve the people...Zuk said her main reason for not seeking a third term is she wants to devote more time to her executive director position at The Well-Come Centre -- a shelter for homeless women."

That objective did not last very long did it!

Obviously, if she wanted to run federally, it would not be such a good idea to jump right after you had been elected municipally would it? More importantly, there was no guarantee that Joyce would have won in Ward 1 with Councillor Budget still running strong and Drew Dilkens running a tough campaign. Running as a losing municipal candidate in a federal election would not have looked very good.

Joyce has had all of this time to concentrate on her Federal campaign and how to beat Brian Masse. Known as a powerful organizer, I would not be surprised at all to see a very strong political machine come out against the NDP incumbent. Expect a campaign as well on "we need a woman for Ottawa" to be the under-current since it worked so well for her municipally last time around. Who knows, Joyce may have been offered a cabinet position as well as her way of "serving the people."

Both she and former Cabinet Minister Alan Rock, also a Dion supporter, were pleased at Dion's win. And Joyce knows how to say the right things too, especially since Jay Strosberg, president of the riding association in Windsor West was an Ignatieff supporter:

• "It was amazing. I've never been more proud to be a Liberal," retiring city Coun. Joyce Zuk said Sunday in a phone interview, en route to Windsor. She supported Dion "from Day 1" and said his victory is the first step toward Liberal party renewal.
  
  "I'm riding the train home with Ignatieff delegates and we're all so happy. I haven't seen this level of unity in years."

Forget the talk that she may run in the east end. Her strength is Ward 1 which is a good part of the Windsor West riding. Why anyone would think that she would consider going to the east is beyond me. I can think though of 2 reasons why the east maybe a lot friendlier for her. Joyce made a lot of enemies in Ward 1 over her border position as well as in Ward 2. Moreover, the Superior Park "racists" have long memories too!

In the east, rumours of Liberal candidates have ranged from Councillor Gignac to Liberal Provincial Minister Dwight Duncan who would want the victory to help promote his candidacy for the leadership of the Federal Liberals if Dion loses badly to Harper. Will Alan Rock run or will he continue to practise law? The big new name that is circulating though is that of Mayor Gary McNamara of Tecumseh. He had run provincially as a Liberal. The chances of him winning though would be remote since a good part of the riding is in Windsor and there would be the Project Ice Track bitterness that could hurt him.

What is interesting as well may be the number of members of Windsor Council who may decide to run federally.

1) The most obvious is Ken Lewenza Jr. Notwithstanding that Joe Comartin said "he plans to run in the next campaign, noting that his nomination meeting is slated for Feb. 1," the strong rumour is that he will retire. Why else would Kennie have been so desperate to win re-election in Ward 4. If he had lost, his political careeer would have been over.

2) Alan Halberstadt has already been pursued by the Conservatives to run in Comartin's riding. Check out his BLOGsite and his interview by Nick Kouvalis. The timing of that was strange given the trial going on but if Kouvalis is acquitted, then he becomes a powerful Conservative voice in this region and guess whom he will owe a favour for standing by him publicly during the darkest days of the trial.

3) Councillor Gignac's win can help her with her Liberal connections as could Councillor Brister's ego after his win. Some of his backers have strong Liberal connections (but they may be holding him back to run for mayor even though he said he would not do so)

4) And then there is Eddie...

By the way, if a Councillor or the Mayor wins, don't expect a by-election either. The Municipal Act provides for "appointments." We need to ensure that the "right" people are on Council, don't we. We cannot let electors decide since what do they know.