#munipoli Matters - ISSUE 54 - Ontario municipal election results (PART 1)
Here are the results from the GTA from the October municipal elections
Welcome to another exciting edition of #munipoil Matters, where we cover the often under-reported area of municipal politics and local government.
After months of campaigning, those who made the decision to cast a ballot in the 2022 municipal election have made their choice as to who would represent them in their local municipalities for the next four years.
While many incumbent mayors retained their roles, there are a few new mayors along with several new councillors elected across Ontario. Those sitting around council tables will have some big decisions to make, with ‘strong mayor’ powers and new housing policies being brought in by Queen’s Park.
Here is a rundown of the results from the Greater Toronto Area.
TORONTO
While Mayor John Tory easily cruised to a third term against Gil Penalosa in the urbanist’s first foray into electoral politics, there were some surprising results at the Council level.
Despite having Tory with him at numerous campaign events Ward 3 (Etobicoke Lakeshore) incumbent Mark Grimes, who has been on council since 2003, lost to former political staffer and returning candidate Amber Morley.
In Scarborough North, the passing of Councillor Cynthia Lai three days before the vote led to lawyer Jamaal Myers winning a three way race with 51% of the vote. Because her name could not be removed from the ballot, votes cast for Lai in the advance polls and on election day were not counted, as per the city’s election rules.
Other new councillors that took over from retiring incumbents include Ausma Malik (Spadina-Fort York), Chris Moise (Toronto Centre), Dianne Saxe (University-Rosedale), Alejandra Bravo (Davenport), and Lily Cheng (Willowdale).
Former councillor Vincent Crisanti returns to council in Etobicoke North, the first person not related to the Ford family elected there in 22 years. Meanwhile another councillor, Jon Burnside, who previously represented one of the Don Valley West wards prior to the 2018 election, returned in Ward 16 (Don Valley East), which was left vacant by retiring deputy mayor Denzil Minnan-Wong.
PEEL REGION
Brampton: After an aborted federal Conservative leadership run in which he was tossed out over allegations of financial improprieties, Mayor Patrick Brown got voted back in with almost 60% of the vote.
The mayor’s closest challenger, former whistleblower and city employee Nikki Kaur, only managed to get around 25% despite having veteran campaign manager Nick Kouvalis on her team.
All sitting councillors running again were reelected…except Ward 9&10 Regional Councillor Gurpreet Dhillon who lost to challenger Gurpartap Singh Toor, a former staffer to previous mayor Linda Jeffrey. Dhillon was hounded for months over allegations of sexual assault during a trade mission in Turkey. Toor unseated Dhillon by 227 votes, a margin of 1.1%.
New Councillors elected to Brampton besides Toor include Navjit Kaur Brar (the first turbaned Sikh woman elected to council), Dennis Keenan and Rod Power. Keenan managed to win the vacant Ward 3&4 City seat against former councillor John Sanderson.
Caledon: With Mayor Allan Thompson opting out of a third term, Bolton regional councillor Annette Groves was elected mayor with 57% of the vote, turning back fellow regional councillor Jennifer Innis.
Groves, who ran an unsuccessful campaign for mayor in 2010, campaigned heavily on smart growth, fighting back developers and the aggregate industry in this town of 75,000.
She will be joined at the Region of Peel council alongside Christina Early, the Ward 2 local councillor now elected to the new Wards 1, 2 and 3 regional seat. Meanwhile, former Brampton municipal candidate Mario Russo is the new Wards 4, 5 and 6 Regional Councillor.
Mississauga: DISCLAIMER: This author volunteered on the Joe Horneck for Mississauga Ward 6 campaign.
Mayor Bonnie Crombie won a third term easily with 82% of the vote. Four new councillors will be joining the 2022-26 term: Ward 2’s Alvin Tedjo, Ward 11’s Brad Butt (a former MP) and a bit of an upset in Ward 9’s Martin Reid, who was backed by outgoing councillor Pat Saito. Reid defeated school trustee Nokha Dakroub by 241 votes.
The only contest in which saw a councillor lose reelection was in Ward 6, where incumbent Ron Starr lost to banking professional and returning 2018 candidate Joe Horneck by a wide margin. Horneck won 60% to Starr’s 25%. A third candidate, Muhammad Kamil, took around 15%.
Horneck is only the third candidate to defeat an incumbent in the past twenty years. In 2010, Ward 1 Councillor Carmen Corbasson lost by 121 votes to the late Jim Tovey. Ironically in Ward 6 that same year, Starr defeated Carolyn Parrish, who was then the Ward 6 Councillor. Starr won 51% to Parrish’s 40%.
Back in 2003, Eve Adams won in a crowded field of 20 candidates, which included former councillor Cliff Gyles, who despite being convicted on corruption, breach of trust and was thrown out of office, was still allowed to run that year. Gyles was not technically sitting as the incumbent during that contest.
HALTON REGION
Burlington: All incumbent members of this city council, including Mayor Marianne Meed Ward, were easily reelected. The only noticeable result was in Ward 4, where incumbent Shawna Stolte’s vote share dropped from 55% in 2018 to 47% in 2022. Stolte had previously decided not to seek reelection before changing her mind.
Halton Hills: With incumbent mayor Rick Bonnette not running again after almost two decades as the head of the municipality, town councillor Ann Lawlor was elected mayor over fellow councillor Bryan Lewis and three other candidates.
Halton Regional Chair: This may have been incumbent Gary Carr’s toughest election, as he had previously either won with massive margins or by acclamation in the job the former Oakville MPP has held since 2006. Carr won about 48% of the vote over former PC MPP Jane McKenna (33%) and Halton school board chair Andrea Grebenc (19%).
Milton and Oakville: Longtime Milton Mayor Gord Krantz and Oakville’s Rob Burton faced perhaps some of their toughest challenges in decades, despite Krantz extending his 40+ years as mayor for another term and Burton having been mayor since 2006.
Krantz managed to fend off Regional Councillor Zeeshan Hamid, who has been on Milton Council since 2010 making his first mayoral run, but only by a margin of 995 votes. In Oakville, Burton once again faced restaurateur Julia Hanna and won by only 886 votes.
DURHAM REGION
Ajax: Mayor Shaun Collier managed to secure 62% of the vote in his reelection in Ajax and in Ward 2 Nancy Henry beat incumbent Ashmeed Khan by only 33 votes for the town councillor position.
Brock Township: Ward 3 Councillor Walter Schummer was elected the new mayor with 55% of the vote. Current incumbent John Grant, appointed to the role in 2021, did not run again.
Clarington: Mayor Adrian Foster faced a rather tough reelection campaign against Regional Councillor Joe Neal and former police officer Tom Dingwall, but managed to get 42% of the vote to secure a fourth term.
Durham Regional Chair: Chair John Henry, a former Oshawa mayor, easily secured 63% of the vote for a second term.
Oshawa: Mayor Dan Carter was reelected to a second term with 65% of the vote.
Pickering: Regional Councillor Kevin Ashe has won the vacant mayoral seat left by retiring incumbent Dave Ryan. Ashe won 38% of the vote over Janice Frampton’s 32% and Bradley Nazar who garnered 28%.
Whitby: Incumbent Don Mitchell did not run for reelection and his seat was won by Regional Councillor Elizabeth Roy, who defeated local councillor Deidre Newman with 53% of the vote to Newman’s 40%.
YORK REGION
Markham: Longtime Mayor Frank Scarpitti, who held the job since 2006, was able to fend off a challenge from Deputy Mayor and Regional Councillor Don Hamilton with 64% of the vote, over 44,000 ballots cast. Hamilton secured just under 25,000 votes and around 36%.
There will be some new councillors joining all the reelected incumbents who ran. Former Liberal MPP and provincial cabinet minister Michael Chan topped the votes for the regional council positions, meaning he will likely be the new Deputy Mayor. Chan is joined by another new face at the Region: outgoing Ward 2 Councillor Alan Ho.
Finally, there are two new faces around the City Council contingent. New Ward 2 Councillor Ritch Lau edged past four other candidates with 36% of the vote. In Ward 7, where incumbent Khalid Usman did not reoffer, the seat was won by school trustee Juanita Nathan with 47% of the vote. In Ward 1, incumbent Keith Irish fended off former councillor Howard Shore with 75% to Shore’s 25%.
One interesting note is that Markham used online voting, and more votes were cast online than on paper ballots, according to the certified results from the city.
Richmond Hill: Although Mayor David West, who was only elected to the job in a January 2022 by-election after serving 8 years on council, was easily reelected with 70%, Council saw substantial changes as four wards got new councillors, with three incumbents losing their reelection bids:
Ward 1: local activist Carol Davidson defeated incumbent Greg Beros.
Ward 2: retired financial manager Scott Thompson defeated incumbent Tom Muench.
Ward 4: YRDSB trustee Simon Cui defeated incumbent Raika Sheppard, who was appointed to her role earlier this year.
Ward 6: former television anchor Michael Shiu won the vacant seat left by Godwin Chan, who ran for Regional Council.
Chan topped the polls for the two regional council spots, likely making him Richmond Hill’s deputy mayor while incumbent Joe DiPaola secured the second spot. The one regional seat was vacated by outgoing councillor Carmine Perelli, who was making his third unsuccessful run for mayor.
Vaughan: In another nail biter, former Ontario Liberal leader Steven Del Duca won the mayoral seat left by retiring incumbent Maurizio Bevilacqua, who endorsed the former provincial cabinet minister.
Del Duca squeaked past Ward 4 Councillor Sandra Yeung Racco by 851 votes. But while Yeung Racco may not be returning to Council her husband Mario Racco will be there: he won the new fourth Regional Council seat allocated to Vaughan.
Three new city councillor will be joining the others: Adriano Volpentesta in Ward 2 (ousting incumbent Tony Carella), Chris Ainsworth the new Ward 4 Councillor, and Gila Martow, who won Ward 5 from incumbent Alan Shefman.
Stay tuned for Part 2 (or maybe 3) outlining the results of Ontario municipal elections around the rest of Ontario.
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