Nominations opened Monday for the vacant council seat in Don Valley West and five people have already registered to run.
The Ward 15 byelection will be held on Nov. 4 to replace Coun. Jaye Robinson, who died on May 16 at the age of 61. Robinson represented the ward from 2010 until her death. City council officially declared the seat vacant on June 26 and decided to fill the vacancy through a byelection.
The nomination period will close on Thursday, Sept. 19 at 2 p.m.
As of 7 p.m. Monday, the five people registered to run are:
- Habiba Desai.
- Anthony Furey.
- Dhruv Jain.
- Evan Sambasivam.
- Sheena Sharp.
Advance voting will be held on Saturday, Oct. 26 and Sunday, Oct. 27 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
On election day, voting locations will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Ward 15 is bordered by Yonge Street to the west and Leslie Street to the east. The ward is bordered by Highway 401 to the north, with its southern border running roughly along the Don River, just above the Evergreen Brickworks.
Congestion, housing, science centre identified as issues
Furey, a former Toronto Sun columnist, ran unsuccessfully for mayor last year. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Furey identified what he thinks are the main issues in the campaign.
“I want to join council to advocate for common sense, practical solutions to issues like congestion, which is frustrating all of us; tackle rising crime, like car thefts, which have gotten out of control; and I want to be a voice for responsible budgeting. We just can’t have another couple years of 9.5 per cent or 10 per cent tax increases,” he said in the post.
“And we cannot be spending tax payer dollars on things like renaming Yonge-Dundas Square and adding more and more bike lanes to major roads,” he added.
Furey said in an interview at city hall that he wants to be a community advocate for the residents of the ward.
Architect Sheena Sharp, who is running for councillor in the ward for a second time, said she wants to focus on building more housing if elected. Sharp came in a distant second to Robinson.
“People say they don’t want their kids living in their basement forever and they want their children to have opportunities and to be able to move out and flourish. The city is not providing that right now,” Sharp said.
Sharp said she is also committed to climate action.
Infrastructure needs to be improved, candidate says
Sambasivam, a former candidate for Ward 8 in 2022, said he loves Toronto but is concerned about its future and said many young people cannot afford to live in the city because of skyrocketing rent, inflated grocery prices and stagnated wages. He said he was born and raised in the community of Don Valley West.
“Whether you are a driver, a transit rider or a cyclist, commute times are longer than ever and the city needs to step up and do its job a little bit more,” he said.
Sambasivam said he hopes, among other things, to improve city infrastructure.
“The city needs to do better to keep its necessary infrastructure at the bare minimum and we haven’t been doing a good job with that. Other candidates that I’ve heard have talked about the fact that we didn’t have better storm water infrastructure, but I’ve also heard some of the same candidates talk about how we need to be slashing infrastructure. And that’s not how the city is supposed to work,” he said.
He said he is committed to keeping the Ontario Science Centre in the ward.
Desai and Jain have not yet responded to a request by CBC Toronto for comment.
Mayor says she won’t endorse anyone in race
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said at a news conference on Monday that she has no plans to endorse anyone in the byelection race, saying it is “democracy in action” in the ward.
“Whoever wins, I’m sure council and myself will be able to work with the winner.”
Chow added: “We miss Jaye Robinson dearly.”
To run as a candidate for councillor, the city requires a person to:
- File a nomination paper with an original signature.
- Provide proof of qualifying address within Toronto.
- Pay a $100 nomination filing fee.
- Provide at least 25 endorsements of nomination from eligible Toronto voters with original signatures.
Nominations must be filed in person at the Toronto Elections City Hall office, located at 100 Queen St. W., first floor, Permit Alley. The office is open Monday to Friday, excluding statutory holidays, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
On Thursday, Sept. 19, the last day of the nomination period, the office will accept nominations from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The city says until a nomination paper is filed, a person cannot raise or spend any money on their campaign.
