Former city councillor ready to run again at 80
Norm Gardner says ‘no use sitting on sidelines’ in the fight against Yonge St. road project
At “80 years young,” former city councillor Norm Gardner is throwing his hat back in the ring to run for a council seat in Willowdale this October.
“I’m not satisfied with what I see in terms of candidates who’ve signed up and I think the area needs to have a stronger voice and needs some protection,” Gardner told the Star by phone Friday from his Yonge-Sheppard home. “So, I figured there’s just no use sitting on the sidelines.”
Gardner’s entry widens the field to five candidates in the restructured Ward 28 after Councillor John Filion announced earlier this month that he would not seek re-election. Also running are Markus O'Brien Fehr (who is Filion’s executive assistant), Danny De Santis, Chung Jin Park and Winston Park.
Top of Gardner’s platform is his strong opposition to a plan by city staff to transform a northern stretch of Yonge St., including bike lanes, between Sheppard and Finch Aves.
Gardner helped lead a group of other local residents strongly opposed to that plan, which was deferred at council in March, saying it has the potential for “tremendous negative consequences.”
He said implementing the plan could take more than the estimated two years, which would tie up traffic on the ring roads and other streets in the area.
A loss of parking, he said, would be devastating for local businesses. Gardner says the idea that cafes and other shops could thrive on a transformed street isn’t “realistic” because they’ll fail without parking.
City staff identified the six-lane stretch on Yonge as a “priority safety concern” after reviewing collision data. The plan recommended by staff would have widened sidewalks, reduced crossing distances and actually increased the number of parking spaces by 75, moving them to side streets and service roads.
Gardner also promises to advocate for the TTC to ensure any expansion of the Yonge subway to Richmond Hill, a stat- ed priority of Premier Doug Ford, would not leave Toronto residents on the platform.
He said he wants the TTC to look at turning back trains at Finch station or further south to allow 416-ers room to get on trains heading downtown.
As a longtime police board member and the former board chair, Gardner had controversial views on guns and crime. When he was appointed in 1986, he said store owners in high-crime areas should be allowed to carry guns for protection. He made news in 1992 when he shot a man in the leg during the attempted robbery of Gardner’s North York bakery. The incident revealed to his shocked colleagues that he was permitted to carry a concealed handgun at the time. He was not charged in connection with the shooting.