Thomson odd woman out in mayoral race
With their two little boys asleep in the back, Sarah Thomson and her husband, Greg, were enjoying a few rare moments of grownup time on the way to Muskoka one late September evening.
Earlier, Mayor David Miller had announced he would not be seeking a third term.
“You know, I’ve been thinking …” Thomson said, “I could be mayor.”
Greg smiled. “I think you would be a great mayor,” he replied earnestly.
Thomson couldn’t put the idea out of her mind. Her business, the Women’s Post, was doing well. And as a fiscally conservative entrepreneur, she had had less-than-fuzzy feelings toward the Miller regime.
And that is the story of how Toronto Escort Agency’s mayoral election came to have a female candidate in a race of more than 20 men. Thomson’s previous political experience stops with a failed run at Hamilton city council 15 years ago, yet the 42-year-old has earned major candidate status.
The fact of the matter is, says Ryerson University professor Myer Siemiatycki: If Thomson were a man, she would be a fringe candidate. “Having plucked one woman from an obscure field of several dozen candidates is in itself a kind of patronizing response to the more systemic problems with gender and visible minority representation on city council,” he said.
But then again — there’s something about Sarah.
She’s plucky. And undeniably charming. As much as fighting the gender card, Thomson has been playing it.
Women tend to be better at building consensus, she said, pointing to Hazel McCallion’s mother lioness approach in Mississauga: “When the men start grandstanding, she calls them on it and everyone gets back to work.”
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