This is the 11th in a series of opinion columns on Ontario’s 2022 municipal elections, written by Josh Lieblein for The CJN.
A community located 90 minutes north of Thornhill got a crash course in the Jewish High Holidays when mayoral candidate Russ Cole spoke up about a few municipal debate scheduling conflicts.
While he attended one out of five debates, which was on the day after the Day of Atonement, his requests to the Ramara Chamber of Commerce to move the ones that clashed with his holiday plans—or at least hold them on Zoom—were mostly ignored.
(The one that was scheduled for Oct. 4, the evening of Yom Kippur, was eventually moved to Oct. 2 after others similarly noted the conflict, although Cole couldn’t appear in person.)
It’s a pattern of communication that he’s on a mission to change.
“Everyone knows. But nobody brings it up.”
The 37-year-old moved to Ramara Township in 2020, and he quickly became a prominent member of the business community as an agritech entrepreneur and owner of a sushi delivery and catering company.
Cole’s decision to run for mayor of about 10,000 people was triggered by a discussion with community members about what wasn’t working.
“I moved because of my love for nature, and I even convinced my parents to move down the street from us,” he says. “I’ve always felt welcomed up here, but there is a tendency for people’s voices not to be heard.”
A political neophyte who admits he doesn’t have many allies on Ramara Township council, Cole spent eight years on the team of former Thornhill political fixture Susan Kadis. (He’s also not the first Jew to run for office in Ramara, as lawyer Jonathan Otis unsuccessfully sought a council seat in 2018.)
“The hope is that other people will follow my lead and open up channels of communication,” he says. “When I ran, I never expected the outpouring of support that I got. It’s humbling and refreshing.”
Cole’s campaign is focused on offering three $5,000 grants for younger and senior community builders, pushing for more accessible internet, and opposing a large septic tank slated to be built near an aquifer.
But the biggest issue, he says, is the obvious favouritism that contributed to a strong desire for change.
“After the deputy mayor passed away, the current mayor’s brother-in-law was appointed without a by-election, and several other people within that family have been hired as city staff. It’s definitely a boys’ club mentality.”
Cole sees a link between the lack of transparency and the scheduling of the debates on High Holidays.
“The current political leadership doesn’t want conversations recorded,” he tells me. “They claim that they don’t want people to place blame and are very worried about elected councillors being ‘bullied.’ They say things like, ‘it’s not about how we get to the solutions.’ It doesn’t make for a welcoming environment for anyone—Jews, people of colour, young people.
“Sometimes, it’s led to people moving away because they haven’t felt welcome, or have been told that the noise of children is too much of a disturbance.”
Still, he’s optimistic that this state of affairs can’t last forever.
“I found out that Jews are living in four out of the 27 units in my townhouse complex,” he says. “The demographics are changing here. People—myself included—are becoming more open to showing that they are Jewish, and hopefully other demographics, cultures and religions will follow suit.”
Josh Lieblein can be reached at [email protected] for your response to Doorstep Postings.
