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Newsstand: October 28, 2014
Dear Norm Kelly, thanks for being the greatest almost-but-not-really mayor this city has ever had. Mayor Tory has some big shoes to fill. In the news: John Tory is our new mayor, a roundup of all the new faces coming to city council, John Nunziata says he was assaulted outside of a polling station, and mayoral race highlights from around the GTA.
It is official. John Tory will be the next mayor of Toronto. Tory walked away with 40 per cent of the vote, beating Doug Ford and Olivia Chow who each garnered 34 per cent and 23 per cent, respectively. While delivering his victory speech at the Liberty Grand, Tory was gracious to his fellow candidates, praising Ford’s courage to put his name on the mayoral ballot, and alluding to future collaboration with Chow by suggesting that she will have much more to contribute to the future of the city. With voter turnout over 60 per cent, this election goes down as the most successful in recent history. Before you lose the high from all that civic action, why not make a date to sit down and review of all the key promises that soon-to-be-Mayor Tory made during his campaign. From SmartTrack to youth employment strategy to subways to bike lanes, these are all the things to hold Mayor Tory accountable for from now until the next election—or until Norm Kelly has to step in again during the next crack scandal.
Along with a brand new mayor, there will be some other new faces at City Hall shortly. Last night, Stephen Holyday was elected in Ward 3, while John Campbell will replace Gloria Lindsay Luby in Ward 4, and Justin Di Ciano will replace Peter Milczyn in Ward 5. After a late endorsement from outgoing Ward 16 councillor Karen Stintz, Christin Carmichael Greb squeaked by to win that seat, and Joe Cressy defeated 21 other candidates to claim Adam Vaughan’s old spot in Ward 20. Jim Karygiannis will replace Mike Del Grande in Ward 39, and, yes, we cannot possibly forget that Rob Ford will replace Doug Ford in Ward 2. John Parker is the lone councillor to lose his seat in this year’s election. He was ousted by Jon Burnside in Ward 26 after two terms.
One face you will not see at City Hall is John Nunziata’s. He lost his bid for a seat in Ward 12 to incumbent Frank Di Giorgio by just 238 votes, and alleges that he was assaulted in the process. Police are investigating Nunziata’s claim that he was assaulted outside a polling station last night. According to Nunziata, a physical altercation took place after a person took issue with him standing on the sidewalk of the polling station. Nunziata was not injured during the scuffle.
For a full rundown of last night’s municipal election action in real-time, browse the Torontoist liveblog. And, because we care, we also have a full breakdown of all election results by ward.
Around the Greater Toronto Area, election night seemed to be largely about fresh mayoral faces. In Mississauga, Hazel McCallion-endorsed Bonnie Crombie won out over Steve Mahoney with an almost 60 per cent margin, while in Brampton, disgraced incumbent Susan Fennell lost to former Liberal MPP Linda Jeffrey. In London, teacher Matt Brown will replace former mayor Joe Fontana, who resigned from office this summer after he was convicted of fraud. Meanwhile, Hamilton’s new mayor, Fred Eisenberger, is actually one of Hamilton’s old mayors. He returns to office after serving as mayor from 2006 to 2010—the first mayor to serve two terms post-amalgamation.