politics
Former MPP Chris Stockwell is Poised to Take Doug Holyday’s Council Seat
The former Tory MPP appears likely to be appointed councillor for Etobicoke-Lakeshore.
At a meeting earlier today, the Etobicoke York community council named its preferred replacement for ex-Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday: Chris Stockwell, a former Tory MPP who, somewhat ironically, once ran—and won—against Mayor Rob Ford’s dad.
Stockwell’s appointment to Holyday’s former seat isn’t assured quite yet, though. City council will have final say over which of the nominees gets to serve out the remainder of the 2010–2014 term as councillor for Etobicoke-Lakeshore.
Stockwell was elected to Queen’s Park in 1990 after spending almost a decade as a municipal politician in Etobicoke. He remained in office until 2003. His run-in with Doug Ford Sr. happened during the 1999 election. The Mike Harris government had reduced the number provincial ridings in Ontario, forcing some incumbent MPPs to battle over seats. There was a bitter nomination battle, and Stockwell prevailed.
Holyday’s Ward 3 council seat opened up in August, when he won a provincial byelection and became an MPP. Council controversially decided to appoint a replacement rather than hold a municipal byelection, and this is the result.