#munipoli Matters - ISSUE 33- Veteran GTA councillors call it quits
A mayor's race takes shape on the West Coast, and more updates...
Welcome to another issue of #munipoil Matters, where you can find the latest updates on what’s happening in the often under-reported area of municipal elections, politics and governance happening in the local councils spread across Canada and beyond.
A couple of long serving city councillors in two major GTA municipalities are not running for another term, while a prominent BC city gets a competitive mayor’s race in their midst.
Here’s more on that…and what I found for this week.
A competitive race for mayor takes shape in Victoria
British Columbia’s capital city will now have an actual competition for who will be the next mayor. With Mayor Lisa Helps stepping aside after two terms in office, Councillors Marianne Alto and Stephen Andrew are both contesting the election to be Victoria’s next mayor.
Alto has been on Victoria City Council since 2010, while Andrew was only elected to council in a 2020 by-election, after former councillor Laurel Collins was elected Victoria’s MP under the New Democratic Party banner in the 2019 federal election.
Andrew is trying to portray himself as more of an outsider, saying Alto would be the candidate for those who prefer the status quo. "If they like the way things have been operating at council, they have their candidate, but the majority of people I hear from, they want a change at city hall, and I hope they vote for me," Andrew said in the CBC article.
"Some of the decisions we're facing in the next four years are going to be really difficult, and require some incredibly thoughtful analysis and balance," Alto said, saying complex solutions were needed on issues such as housing affordability, community safety, climate change and reconciliation.
"I'm going to focus on what a city should be doing: staying in our lane, not getting into B.C. and federal politics," Andrew added.
With Andrew and Alto entering the mayor’s race another councillor, Ben Isitt, has said he is also considering all options…including running for mayor himself.
Veteran Toronto councillor calls it quits
After 12 years on Toronto City Council, Ward 9 (Davenport) Councillor Ana Bailao announced via Twitter she was leaving the position she’s held since 2010.
Bailao first ran for council in 2003 in what was then Ward 18, losing to Adam Giambrone. When Giambrone stepped down seven years later to briefly run for mayor, Bailao defeated his executive assistant Kevin Beaulieu to win the seat.
She fended off a strong challenge in 2014, winning 45% of the vote, but swept to a landslide win in 2018 with over 83% of the vote when Council was cut in half, leaving her to run in the revamped Ward 9. Mayor John Tory appointed Bailao as one of his deputy mayors in 2017, representing Toronto South and East York, as well as handling the housing file.
Another Mississauga councillor also calls it quits
Meanwhile west of Toronto, Mississauga Ward 11 Councillor George Carlson, first elected as councillor in 2000, announced his retirement after 22 years in office.
Prior to becoming a councillor, Carlson was a Peel District School Board trustee and also served as an Executive Assistant to his friend, Ward 5 Councillor Carolyn Parrish, when Parrish served as a Liberal MP for Mississauga. He has also been a long time Chair of the city’s Planning and Development Committee, which considers development proposals and changes to the zoning rules.
As of this writing Ward 11, which comprises Streetsville and Old Meadowvale, has three registered candidates: Annurag Chawla, Kushagr Dutt Sharma and Imran Hasan, who ran against Carlson twice before in 2014 and 2018.
With Carlson’s announcement, that makes three Mississauga wards up for grabs with no incumbent running, alongside Ward 9, where Pat Saito announced she’s leaving office after 31 years in office and in Ward 2, where former incumbent Karen Ras resigned earlier this year and the current appointed councillor, Pat Mullin, is not expected to run again.
In other news
Brockville, ON: Councillor Matt Wren is the first registered candidate for Mayor of the “City of 1,000 Islands”. Wren was first elected as a City Councillor in 2018, topping the polls with the most votes of the eight members elected.
Current Mayor Mike Kalivas is serving on an interim basis with the understanding that he won’t be running for mayor himself, but he is free to run for council again. Another councillor, David Beatty, has said he is not planning to run for reelection.
Edwardsburgh/Cardinal, ON: Meanwhile, just up the road in this township, Mayor Pat Sayeau is running for a third term as mayor, with eight years on council before that on his resume. Sayeau said one of his priorities is the 10,000 acres of provincially-owned land straddling Highway 417, a possible location for an industrial business park.
What I found interesting about Sayeau is that in addition to his 16 years on the Edwardsburgh/Cardinal council, he also previously served 10 years, on and off, on the council of the Northwestern Ontario municipality of Red Lake. A former teacher, high school principal and businessman, Sayeau was also a school board trustee in Red Lake for two terms.
North Vancouver (City), BC: Mayor Linda Buchanan has officially launched her bid for a second term, with the event being held at a local restaurant. Buchanan was first elected as a city councillor in 2011, then elected mayor in 2018 after two terms on council.
The mayor lauded some of the work done during her tenure, such as rapid transit to the North Shore, increasing housing options for young people, families and seniors and implementing ‘rent to own’ housing for first-time buyers.
Qualicum Beach, BC: The residents of this community on the shores of Vancouver Island may have an additional matter to vote on during this fall’s municipal election for their local town council: whether to increase the size of said council from 4 to 6 members.
Should voters approve the measure, the changes will be in effect for the 2026 election.
Summerside, PEI: Ward 2 Councillor Justin Doiron (St. Eleanors-Slemon Park) is the first candidate to announce he is running for another term in the November municipal elections in the province’s second largest city.
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