Off to the races
Incumbents, newcomers alike are signing up or dropping out of the 25-ward council election
Premier Doug Ford’s victory in cutting the size of Toronto’s city council left incumbents resigned to signing up against one another Thursday, and other candidates abandoning the race entirely.
Registrations by councillors Paula Fletcher and John Campbell created at least two new matchups, with Fletcher facing off against longtime friend and ally Mary Fragedakis in Ward14 Toronto-Danforth, and Campbell up against fellow first-term Councillor Stephen Holyday in Ward 2 Etobicoke Centre.
By the end of the first of two days to register, there were just under 400 candidates for councillor and school boards signed up, including those who had previously signed up under a 25ward system. That compares to 509 candidates who were registered in the 47-ward election.
Chris Moise, a gay Black school trustee who was one of the people behind a court challenge of the council cut, arrived before 1 p.m. to sign up for reelection to the Toronto District School Board.
The current school board trustee for Ward 14 Toronto Centre-Rosedale had been campaigning for a council seat, registered to run in a 47-ward race for one of the new downtown wards containing the Gay Village. But he won’t run against friend and mentor Kristyn Wong-Tam, the incumbent in the area covered by the new Toronto Centre ward in a 25-seat election. Wong-Tam signed up just before the office closed on Thursday. Before he arrived at city hall on Thursday, Moise was out canvassing with Wong-Tam, holding signs with her face printed on them and en- couraging others to vote for her. Recognized as one of the people fighting Ford in court, Moise said he’s been getting a lot of sympathy messages.
“I’m sad, but I’m not dead,” he told the Star. “I just have to keep going.”
“I still have a lot to contribute and a lot of things are happening at the school board now that needs continued attention and support around youth equity.”
Moise said he has yet to reflect on his own feelings about what happened — an emotional roller-coaster of winning in court on Sept. 10 with Ford’s Bill 5 struck down, only to have that decision suspended Wednesday by the Ontario Court of Appeal. While further legal challenges are expected, it is now almost certain the Oct. 22 election will be run with 25 wards.
“This whole election, for me, is just a farce,” he said.
Meanwhile, Jennifer Hollett, who had
signed up to run in another open downtown race under the 47-ward system and who also challenged the cut in court, said she too will withdraw her candidacy and support Wong-Tam and Moise.
“If I knew this was going to be a 25-ward race, I would not have entered it,” Hollett said, adding her campaign slogan since Ford’s government interfered in the race has been “One day at a time.”
Hollett said she doesn’t want to run against allies like WongTam or Councillor Joe Cressy.
“The whole day-to-day mantra continues. I will continue my work in the tech, news and government space,” said the former Twitter Canada executive, who quit that job to run in a 47-ward race.
Incumbents who had yet to sign up in a 25-ward race walked into the elections office on the main floor of city hall on Thursday to re-file their paperwork after nominations reopened at 8:30 a.m. Nominations close at 4:30 p.m. Friday.
Cressy, who registered to run in Ward 10 Spadina-Fort York, called Ford a “narcissist.”
“The number one question at the door is, ‘So, who is my councillor? What ward am I in?’ So, instead of having conversations that the city deserves about affordable housing, transit, the safety of our streets, we’re actually spending most of our time giving a geography lesson around the new maps and what the boundaries are for peoples’ wards,” he said.
“I think that demonstrates just further that when you change the rules in the middle of the election, not only do you impact the candidates, but you impact the tenor of the debate, because suddenly there is no discussion of city issues. All we are talking about is Doug Ford.”
Cressy noted his will be the most populated ward in Canada, with a projected 155,000 people living within the expanded boundaries by 2026. The average ward population size with 47 wards was targeted to be 61,000 people. With 25 wards it will be 110,000.
Close friend and neighbouring Councillor Mike Layton echoed concerns of being able to adequately serve residents.
“It’s a very different job than being an MPP or an MP,” he said. “Now you have three municipal wards that account for 42 per cent of all development files in the city in Toronto ... Just think about how limited the public engagement will be for those three wards because of the amount of evening work that’s being put on them in order to facilitate that kind of engagement.
“We will do the very best we can, but we must continue to fight for Toronto to be treated fairly by the province.”
Campbell agreed the workload will be substantial, including keeping an eye on agencies like the Toronto Transit Commission and the Toronto Parking Authority.
“Those remaining councillors, they’re going to be in meetings all the time. I don’t know when they’re going to have time to help constituents,” he said. “I’m up to the task. I’m willing to do the work, but it’s going to make running the city a lot more problematic.”
“Instead of having conversations that the city deserves … we’re actually spending most of our time giving a geography lesson.” JOE CRESSY INCUMBENT COUNCILLOR