Milton, Ont. mayoral candidates Gord Krantz and Zainab Azim sat together at a booth in Troy’s diner Wednesday, sipping on milkshakes — one chocolate and one strawberry.
The pair are running against each other in the upcoming municipal election, but are committed to ensuring they run clean campaigns.
To do so, they teamed up to shoot a video encouraging people to keep politics civil.
“While I like strawberry milkshakes,” said Azim in a social media video.
“I love chocolate,” replied Krantz.
“We both agree that Troy’s has the best milkshakes in town.”
That Instagram post by Azim gained hundreds of thousands of views from around the world.
“Things were happening in [Milton] that I don’t think are reflective of who we are,” said Azim. “Signs were being broken down, things were happening online that we know is not who we are as Miltonians. So, I went to Gord’s house and I showed him an example video and why don’t we show people who we are as Miltonians and try to actually change the conversation.”
Krantz — Canada’s longest-serving mayor — was quick to agree.
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“I’ve done very little, if any, mudslinging,” he said. “That was never in my vocabulary when it comes to politics. So, I think that’s what we attempted to zero in on. We can agree to disagree.”
Milton’s current mayor, 89-year-old Krantz has held the position since 1980 — and was a councillor for 15 years before then.
Raised in Milton, 24-year-old Azim grew up with Krantz as mayor for her entire life.
The two may have differing views on how to advance the municipality, but she says their common ground is a shared value in treating people with dignity.
“We can disagree on our ideas, but personally we actually quite like each other,” Azim said.
“Together — no matter our age or our differences — we’re able to model leadership for people. Because, I do think what’s happening down South gives people permission to behave a certain way and feel comfortable doing certain things. But, what we were able to show is that there’s a different way also of doing politics.”
For Krantz, the message is: we are all in this together.
“Democracy is so fragile as it is…let’s be kind and respect one another,” he said.
“As Miltonians we always work together. We can disagree without degrading one another.”
They’re calling on candidates and constituents alike to rise above.
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