Political drive in the Carmichael family
[attach]7442[/attach]Christin Carmichael Greb, who grew up in a “politically minded” family, states family reasons as her motivation for entering the race to succeed Karen Stintz as councillor in Ward 16 Eglinton-Lawrence.
But the fact that her father, Don Valley West MP John Carmichael, is already in politics is not one of them.
“I’ve been thinking about it for the last couple months and, really, my reason for doing it is my children,” the 36-year-old Bombardier Aerospace business analyst said in a phone interview, referring to sons Harrison, 4, and Jackson, 2. “I’ve always been interested in politics, municipal politics especially.”
Late last year Stintz announced her intentions to vacate her council seat and her position as TTC chair to make a mayoralty run. Carmichael Greb became the first candidate for the Ward 16 seat when she filed on Jan. 16.
“The decisions that are being made today are the decisions that will affect the city my children will inherit,” said Carmichael Greb, who holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Western Ontario.
She says that as a married mother of young children and having grown up in North Toronto, she feels she represents well much of Ward 16’s demographic and can relate to the most pressing issues.
She lists three focal points in her campaign: public transit and gridlock, development, and community issues. Public transit is a primary concern, she says, because of Yonge and Eglinton at the southeastern corner of the ward.
“The majority of people in the ward take the subway to work or they drive elsewhere off the subway line to work and they’re stuck in traffic,” she said. “I want to make sure the issues around gridlock and public transit are addressed so we can get Toronto moving.”
Yonge and Eglinton is also a concern because of ongoing development, which Carmichael Greb says needs to be done with the community in mind.
“I want to work with developers and residents to make sure that development is responsible and caring and fits within the plan for the ward,” she said, adding that would help to make sure “we don’t have huge towers everywhere and that everything coexists and works well together.”
Carmichael Greb lists ensuring hyper-local issues like safety or park development in each small neighbourhood are heard as one of her goals.
“I want my children and my neighbours’ families to grow and prosper in a city that they’re proud of, that’s a strong, safe and sustainable city,” she said. “That’s really my goal for running and what I want to accomplish.”
