Scarborough seat could remain empty for months

More than 100,000 Scarborough residents could be without city council representation at Toronto city hall for months.

Jim Karygiannis was ejected from his seat in Ward 22 Scarborough-Agincourt by an appeal court on Wednesday over campaign spending issues from his 2018 re-election bid.

When a council seat becomes vacant due to resignation, death or ejection, the rest of council usually votes to either appoint a replacement or hold a byelection in the ward so voters can choose a new representative.

Council has a meeting next week. City clerk Ulli Watkiss, in a report released Thursday, suggests Mayor John Tory and the remaining 24 councillors declare the Ward 22 seat vacant, but wait until the Sept. 30 meeting to decide how to fill it.

A requirement that council appoint a replacement or order a byelection within 60 days of the vacancy can be set aside due to provincial emergency orders to deal with the COVID-19 emergency, Watkiss wrote.

“The uncertainty as to how long the emergency will last, and the resulting limitations to the normal operation of the city and the daily life of its residents, are obstacles,” to holding a byelection otherwise meeting the 60-day target, she wrote.

Deferring the decision will allow council to decide when staff can “report with more certainty about the options available,” Watkiss wrote, adding staff by then will know about byelection costs, timeliness and pandemic considerations.

Postponing the decision puts it about halfway through the four-year council term that ends in the fall of 2022.

It would also leave more than 105,000 residents of northeast Toronto without any political representation at the June and July scheduled council meetings and any emergency meetings called between now and an appointment or byelection. Kargyiannis’s office staff will continue serving Ward 22 residents.