Election night saw voters elect the first hijab-wearing Muslim woman to council and at least one long-time councillor defeated.
City council is about to look a lot more like the city it represents thanks to the election Monday night of diverse candidates, including council’s first hijab-wearing Muslim.than Toronto, where more than half of residents were born outside Canada. But voters, and candidates who refused to give up, changed that.
“We need a renewal at city council. For me it was taking my local knowledge, my experience, to make sure our communities had a champion at city hall and … continuing to break down the barriers to leadership in our city that have been there for too long.” In Ward 9 Davenport, Alejandra Bravo, a Chilean-born former community organizer, finally won in her fifth shot at office, after three municipal and one provincial contests.
“I’m in tears. I’m deeply grateful for the support that the community has shown me throughout this campaign,” Cheng said. “I’m still shocked actually. I really had no idea what was going to happen tonight.” In Ward 23 Scarborough North, Black lawyer and community advocate Jamaal Myers will succeed Cynthia Lai, the councillor elected in 2018 who was seeking re-election but died suddenly on Friday.
With 61 of 65 polls reporting, Nunziata was leading the local tenant union co-founder and social worker by just 69 votes. Both were well ahead of the only other candidate, Gabriel Takang, who had 5.20 per cent. They include a $875-million budget hole that could balloon to $1 billion by February when council needs to approve a 2023 spending plan.The city can’t legally run a deficit so will need either massive bailouts by the provincial and federal governments, new revenue sources, or deep cuts to balance the books.
In Ward 21 Scarborough Centre, incumbent Michael Thompson was easily re-elected. Thompson was charged with two counts of sexual assault in September. Thompson denied the accusations by two women, related to incidents in Muskoka in July, and continued his campaign which included no high-profile challengers.