2 Friday, October 12, 2018 brooklintowncrier.com The Election - and then what? Much more than half the picture: By Richard Bercuson In the 1972 film "The Candidate," Bill McKay (Robert Redford) wins a contentious U.S. senate election, beating the incumbent. In the final scene, faced with the jarring reality of governing versus campaigning, he mutters to his campaign manager the film's last line, "What do we do now?" While the fictitious event would seem to have nothing to do with our Oct. 22 municipal and school board election, it actually has everything to do with it. We're facing the region's most daunting and likely important election in its history. For now, we've escaped the clutches of Premier Ford who, with another majority in four years, could very well announce the demise of all regional governments in the province. To that end, he's already dumped elections for regional chair in the regions of York, Peel, Niagara, and Muskoka, leaving the positions as appointments. It's where Durham was until 2014 when the first election for chair was won by the late Roger Anderson. In the meantime, Durham, along with Halton and Waterloo, remain untouched - for now. What would happen if Ford determined that municipalities within regions had to merge? Imagine a mega-city melding our eight municipalities into one called the city of Durham. We'd have a northwestern 'burb called Sunderland and a southeastern one called Clarington, and never the twain shall meet. Or, just as awkwardly, let's say Whitby were forced to marry Oshawa. Whishawa? Debate point The point was brought up at the Sept. 26 Durham College mayoral "debate" between incumbent Don Mitchell and his lone challenger Andrea Kennedy. It wasn't a debate per se since there were questions delivered by a moderator, DC campus principal Kevin Baker. They were given two minutes apiece to answer and a minute to rebut. Before an audience of about 150, one question concerned their approach if such a merger were to be imposed. Mitchell cracked, "Over my dead body." Kennedy replied that if it's imposed on Whitby, we'd have to move forward on it as we're merely separated by a dotted line, "dead bodies or not." That wasn't what I wanted to hear, to be sure. It took place on the heels of a Candidate Expo upstairs at Durham College's Food Centre. For about three hours, Whitby council and regional council candidates stood by tables festooned with candy (see our front page) and covered with flyers, name cards and such. The idea had merit, I suppose, for those who genuinely wanted to meet candidates and put a real face to what had been a two-dimensional piece of paper. Artificial scenario? Yours truly chatted with a candidate who's the brother of someone I worked with in hockey in Ottawa. Disney was right; it's a small world. I snatched two - two! - cupcakes from one table and snuck a few chocolate kisses from another. Still, the whole scenario struck me as rather artificial. Individuals meandered around the narrow laneways, exchanging pleasantries, sampling sweets, and, in a few cases, collecting flyers. One gentleman, Jack, with a keen interest in transportation and armed with collected flyers, admitted he wasn't sure he'd get an honest answer from anyone in that format. He asked anyway. Given how much Durham and Whitby governance is intertwined with what happens in Brooklin, being aware of our electoral options for every position has become especially acute. It means that who to vote for among 30 individuals in five races will be the ultimate test of voters' ability to discern which candidates are more than just signage, Facebook friends, or neat candy. Here's something you couldn't possibly know: Brooklin is unique. Ours is a community so distinctive that people use it as their return address and proclaim they live in Brooklin versus Whitby. Our little downtown is mentioned (alongside Whitby's) as a place to develop and we're a go-to destination for charming festivals and fairs, Ribfest aside, which is a shame. Personally, I'd devour a smaller version in Grass Park. And, of course, we have our own newspaper. No other Durham locale has anything quite like us. We're almost our own entity - and no, there isn't a hint of a secession-