The major media have been touting the “top 5” candidates for months (the cast in alphabetical order: Rob Ford, Joe Pantalone, Rocco Rossi, George Smitherman, and Sarah Thomson). Giorgio Mammoliti dropped out of the race weeks ago, not a huge loss, though his though his proposals regarding affordable housing are worth adopting by whomever eventually wins the election.

Some have called for partisan politics and party affiliations to help voters along. Sorry, I tend to feel that partisan “branding” is the last thing we need at this level of government. Voters are, or should be sophisticated enough, to evaluate the people, policies and platforms presented.

Toronto voters will have to do some heavy lifting in before Monday October 25th. Last I checked there were far more than 5 candidates vying for the job of mayor. Oh yeah, John Tory made it painfully clear that he is not running for mayor this year. So who will win?

I know who should win. The candidate that can articulate a clear vision for Toronto. Someone who’s policies are not based liquidating assets but building on what we have or investing in the future. So far we have seen a lot of petty bickering and little leadership or vision. John Tory is not on the shortlist and the “top 5” financially backed candidates may or may not have what it takes. It will be up to the citizens of Toronto to choose the right candidate for mayor and hold them accountable beyond October 25, 2010. One thing for sure, apathy will get you nothing but grief.

I don’t think that many people enjoyed the carnage and damage a few vandals had during the G20. This heavy handed senseless action was followed up with heavy handed policing. Sure some perpetrators were rounded up among the approximately 1,000 mass arrests. The problem was that many innocent people, journalists and bystanders were beaten and arrested. All told, close to 800+ were released with no charges laid.

Yes, it is amazing that there were no life threatening injuries to the security forces or protesters (or vandals) but that hardly warrants blanket praise from council. There was good reason for yesterday’s 1,200 person march at Queen’s Park. There are masses of people calling for a public inquiry. Many feel each of the Toronto Police, Toronto Police Services Board or the Ombudsman reviews will leave too many questions unanswered. Questions over civilian oversight and use of force are valid considering what transpired.

The bad taste of the G20 will linger for sometime. Hardly the good PR campaign sold to Toronto by the Feds. The strategic bungling of a dual G8/G20 in cottage country, the failure to hold the “back up” Toronto G20 outside the downtown core, not to mention the Fed’s blank check given to security forces should have been foreshadowing enough. Glad the madness is over but a serious, although belated, review of the failings should take place.

This morning’s financial district “visit” by a lost deer was shocking enough. The police were attempting to capture the doe and release it outside the hustle of the dowtown core. After consulting with experts, like veterinarian from the Toronto Zoo, police tried subduing the animal tranquilizer dart. After all, a runaway deer could cause a traffic accident, injure itself or an innocent bystander. Things took a turn for the bizarre after that.

The “take down” escalated when the dart didn’t seem to work. When the doe didn’t calm down it was then shot with a Taser stun gun. Whoa! The Police didn’t kill the deer but it is being monitored before being released back into the wild.

Despite the taser, it seems that the TSX, the doe and others financial types on Bay Street will survive.

A man is being held under the on charges under the Customs Act and Export Import Permits Act . The Toronto Star has reported that a Toronto man is being held for trying to export nuclear technology. Transducers, while not always innocuous as a lab beaker, can be used for legitimate as well as mad scientist purposes. Caution is not a bad thing but it will be interesting to see whether these charges stick and the intent of this man was to export weapons or restricted goods.