# Suburban Mtl. mayor aghast that someone is daring to run against him **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 16, 2009, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suburban-mtl-mayor-aghast-that-someone-is-daring-to-run-against-him/513983 "2009-10-16T02:56:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suburban-mtl-mayor-aghast-that-someone-is-daring-to-run-against-him/513983/1 "2009-10-16T02:56:27Z")
[Montreal area mayor faces unwelcome opponent: Janiszewski says having to campaign is a waste of money](http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2009/10/13/dollard-mayor.html) > [@](#): > > In the upcoming municipal election, Janiszewski is facing an opponent for the job, and he doesn’t like it. > > Janiszewski said hiring extra election staff, and sending out more election information is all a waste, because, his opponent, Shameem Siddiqui, can’t win. > > […]Siddiqui wasn’t impressed. > > “This is a democratic country, right. Everybody has a right to run,” he said. > > Siddiqui said Janiszewski is not the king of Dollard and he doesn’t want to see him run unopposed. This is a new one on me. I’m sure there are a lot of politicians who are affronted at the concept of facing opposition, but usually they aren’t so frank about it. And to be quite honest, anyone who says out loud that their opponent can’t win is tempting fate. ---
**Author:** ![KennerTheGreat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a8b319/32.png) [@KennerTheGreat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KennerTheGreat)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suburban-mtl-mayor-aghast-that-someone-is-daring-to-run-against-him/513983/2 "2009-10-17T16:32:04Z")
This kind of thing almost happened where I live, when it looked like the incumbent mayor would stand unopposed until another person announced his intention to run. The nominal challenger is the type of person who believes the solution to all economic and political problems is “legalize marijuana.” Headline in the local paper the next day “$50 000 up in smoke.” His candidacy later became moot when another more mainstream candidate annouced his own campaign. The incumbent still won though, with about 75% of the vote. I should clarify the $50 000 referenced in the headline was the costs of having an election (mail-in ballots only) ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suburban-mtl-mayor-aghast-that-someone-is-daring-to-run-against-him/513983/3 "2009-10-18T16:34:50Z")
Well, looks like a similar but much more sinister thing happened in another suburban election: a construction entrepreneur tried to buy off the mayor and two opposition councillors to not have a contested election. > **[Collusion à Boisbriand: le DGEQ vérifie s'il y a eu infraction](https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/elections-municipales/200910/16/01-912017-collusion-a-boisbriand-le-dgeq-verifie-sil-y-a-eu-infraction.php)** > > Le Directeur des élections du Québec (DGEQ) vérifie si une infraction a été commise lorsque l'homme d'affaires Lino Zambito a tenté, en la présence de la mairesse de Boisbriand, Sylvie Saint-Jean, de convaincre deux conseillers de l'opposition,... ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suburban-mtl-mayor-aghast-that-someone-is-daring-to-run-against-him/513983/4 "2009-10-18T18:19:34Z")
I don’t suppose there’s an English version of that article? ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suburban-mtl-mayor-aghast-that-someone-is-daring-to-run-against-him/513983/5 "2009-10-18T19:36:54Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > [Montreal area mayor faces unwelcome opponent: Janiszewski says having to campaign is a waste of money](http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2009/10/13/dollard-mayor.html) > > This is a new one on me. I’m sure there are a lot of politicians who are affronted at the concept of facing opposition, but usually they aren’t so frank about it. And to be quite honest, anyone who says out loud that their opponent can’t win is tempting fate. No shit, that is the sort of thing that gets an almost kneejerk reaction to vote for an opponent! ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suburban-mtl-mayor-aghast-that-someone-is-daring-to-run-against-him/513983/6 "2009-10-18T19:45:01Z")
This is hilarious. From the article in the OP: > [@](#): > > “The problem is that by having an opponent, we are spending 15 to 20 thousand dollars of taxpayers’ money,” he said. Yeah, democracy is such a waste of taxpayer money. It’s just so much more _efficient_ when you don’t have to have elections. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suburban-mtl-mayor-aghast-that-someone-is-daring-to-run-against-him/513983/7 "2009-10-18T20:15:07Z")
Well when I lived in the Montreal area in the 70s, hardly any of the cities had competitive elections for mayor. This included Montreal itself – it was the era of Jean Drapeau who was mayor of Montreal for something like 50 years… ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suburban-mtl-mayor-aghast-that-someone-is-daring-to-run-against-him/513983/8 "2009-10-19T20:44:23Z")
If you’re that 100% certain that the other guy has no chance in hell of beating you do you even need to run a campaign? Don’t send mailers, don’t campaign, don’t hire an election staff. Just throw your name on the ballot if you’re so confident.