Imagine four years of a Rob Ford Toronto! A Mayor who boasts on election night about abolishing the fair wage policy and contracting out garbage collection will be a formidable foe of working people. The Ford sweep did not change the political balance of Council seats, but the power of the mayor to name an executive and committee chairs means he will have real swat over the centrist councilors. No doubt his staff will draw on some of the key operatives from the Harris regime, so we can expect to see many of the same aspects as the Common Sense Revolution being played out in Toronto over the next four years.
Of the Labour Council endorsements, 15 out of 29 City Councilors positions were successful, including newcomers Josh Colle, Sarah Doucette, Michael Layton, Kristyn Wong-Tam and Mary Fragedakis. Also elected were 11 out of 17 endorsed TDSB Trustees, 1 out of 4 TCDSB candidates, and 2 of 3 candidates in York Region.
We were sad to see Sandra Bussin go down to defeat, after several years of a relentless smear campaign in the community bankrolled by “persons unknown”. She became the target of all the mainstream media as well. It got to the point where many voters could not see past the hot button issues – instead of recognizing her years of leadership on key municipal issues.
Thanks go out to all the affiliated and activists who spent many hours working on campaigns or engaging their members in this election. Guess what? The next election starts now – and it will be four years of very tough work. Here is the list of successful candidates endorsed by Labour Council. You can meet some of them at the Delegates meeting on Thursday, November 7th.
Toronto City Council
| Ward 8 – Anthony Perruzza | Ward 9 – Maria Augimeri |
| Ward 13 – Sarah Doucette | Ward 14 – Gord Perks |
| Ward 15 – Josh Colle | Ward 19 – Mike Layton |
| Ward 20 – Adam Vaughan | Ward 21 – Joe Mihevc |
| Ward 27 – Krystyn Wong Tam | Ward 28 – Pam McConnell |
| Ward 29 – Mary Fragedakis | Ward 30 – Paula Fletcher |
| Ward 31 – Janet Davis | Ward 33 – Shelley Carroll |
| Ward 38 – Glenn DeBaeremaker |
TORONTO PUBLIC SCHOOL TRUSTEES
| Ward 3-4 Chris Glover | Ward 7-8 Stephnie Payne |
| Ward 9-10 Howard Kaplan | Ward 11-12 Chris Tonks |
| Ward 13-14 Irene Atkinson | Ward 17-18 Maria Rodrigues |
| Ward 29-30 Cathy Dandy | Ward 31-32 Sheila Cary-Meagher |
| Ward 33-34 Michael Coteau | Ward 37-38 David Smith |
| Ward 41-42 Shaun Chen |
TORONTO CATHOLIC TRUSTEES
North York – Maria Rizzo
YORK REGION
Georgina – Dave Szollosy
Newmarket – John Taylor
