No incumbents filed yet in North Toronto
[attach]7472[/attach]It’s been three months since Ward 16 councillor Karen Stintz announced her intentions to run for mayor, but she hasn’t filed nomination papers yet.
While that might be fodder for rumours, considering contenders for both her council seat and her position as TTC chair have emerged, she says she has had a date for filing in mind all along.
“I had said I was going to wait until I was no longer chair of the TTC,” she said in an interview. “So that’s going to happen at the end of February, and right after that I’ll register and formally launch my campaign.”
Fellow Eglinton-Lawrence councillor Josh Colle (Ward 15) and North York councillor Maria Augimeri have put their hats in the ring to replace her as head of the transit commission.
Christin Carmichael Greb, daughter of Don Valley West MP John Carmichael, has registered as a candidate and urban planner Terry Mills has said publicly he intends to run for the Ward 16 council seat. But even when it became clear that former Progressive Conservative party leader and current radio talk show host John Tory will be running for mayor — appealing to the
same right-of-centre voter as Stintz and incumbent mayor Rob Ford will — she insisted nothing had impacted her game plan.
“Not at all,” she said confidently, suggesting it’s still all about the opportunity. “It’s a great city and there’s a chance to lead our great city.”
On Jan. 30, former North York alderman and Toronto city councillor Norm Gardner also filed to run for mayor, bringing the total number of declared candidates to 24.
In the other two North Toronto wards, neither Colle, Ward 15, nor Jaye Robinson, Ward 25, have yet filed.
Ahmed Belkadi is the only candidate to register so far in Ward 15.
In Ward 25, no candidates have filed, but Robinson said she is eagerly awaiting the opportunity to do so.
“Don’t even have to give it a second thought — I’m definitely running again,” she said in a phone interview just before having a meeting with her campaign team. “It’s been an incredible experience serving Ward 25 Don Valley West, it’s been an honour and a privilege and I enjoy every minute of it.”
Robinson said she will likely file this month, and probably would have earlier had not 2014 got off to a hectic start.
“Ward 25 might have been the hardest hit ward for power outages and the fallout from the (Dec. 21) ice storm,” she said, adding it took a “huge” investment in time trying to expedite the subsequent cleanup.
“Because my ward was decimated and so hard hit the tree cleanup has been extensive.”
Between that and the recent budget meetings, she said time has been limited.
“It’s been a really busy term, but it’s been an exceptionally busy new year because of the aftermath of the storm and the 2014 budget.”
