Here’s what you need to know about the upcoming mayoral, council elections
Featured image: AI-generated editorial illustration; not a photograph of the reported event.
THE BASICS
The Toronto municipal election is later this month, with the main vote day held on October 26. Polls are open that day from 10am to 8pm. However, that’s not the only day you can show up to vote.
Advance voting is open daily from Tuesday, Oct. 6 to Saturday, Oct. 11, 10am-7pm. In recent years, more and more voters have been showing up on the advance days. Consider the main day really as your last day to vote and try to get your vote in sooner.
While the main election day polling booth will likely be held at a school, church or community centre very close to your home, there are fewer polling stations on the advance days, so check your voter info card or go online at the City’s election website to confirm the location.
On the ballot, will be your choices to vote for mayor, city councillor and trustee. The trustee options vary whether you are registered for the public, Catholic or French school board options.
MAYORAL CANDIDATES
There are over 50 people registered to run for mayor this year. Although the three main candidates for mayor are Olivia Chow, the incumbent, Councillor Brad Bradford, and former federal cabinet minister Chris Alexander.
During the 2023 mayoral election that Chow won, she received significant support in Scarborough. Recent polling shows that while Bradford comes a close second city-wide, Chow is again the preferred candidate in Scarborough.
When it comes to campaign promises specifically aimed at Scarborough, the conversation centres around the Scarborough East LRT. The line will go from Kennedy Station to Malvern Town Centre via the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus, with 27 stops along the way.
While Bradford has claimed Chow is not moving fast enough on the project, Chow says she has made progress this term and will continue to do so if re-elected.
CITY COUNCIL
Councillors running for re-election typically have a very strong chance at re-election. For example, Scarborough Centre Councillor Michael Thompson and Scarborough Guildwood Councillor Paul Ainslie are both running for re-election and have both been very popular with voters in past elections, winning by substantial vote margins.
However, here are a few ward seats in Scarborough worth keeping a close eye on:
Scarborough – Rouge Park
The city’s most eastern ward, and one of its largest geographically, is set for a close rematch.
Last year, former councillor and trustee Neethan Shan won a hotly contested by-election in Scarborough – Rouge Park with a relatively close margin. The second place candidate was trustee Anu Sriskandarajah and third place was Scarborough businessman Shawn Allen.
This time, Shawn Allen is returning to challenge Shan and Sriskandarajah is not on the ballot. The election may prove close, with Shan as the NDP-affiliated candidate and Allen the more centre-right choice, as he campaigns to keep property taxes low.
Scarborough North
Current councillor Jamaal Myers wasn’t the favourite to win the previous, 2022, election. But when incumbent councillor Cynthia Lai died shortly before the vote, Myers became the de factor frontrunner.
While Myers has received a lot of public attention in his role as TTC chairman, he now faces a steep battle for re-election as he faces two major challengers.
Shaun Chen, the former long-time Liberal MP for the riding, is now running for the council seat and it could very well pull off an upset. Han Dong — another former Liberal MP — is also running in the election. Although Dong previously represented the nearby riding of Don Valley North, so it remains to be seen if he has the level of local support that Chen will command.
Scarborough – Southwest
This is another ward where the current councillor — Parthi Kandavel — first won election in a close by-election that involved a crowded field.
Centrist Kandavel only won by an 800 vote margin, with left-leaning candidate Kevin Rupasinghe placing second close behind. Several other candidates further down the ballot also earned a significant number of votes.
This time around, Rupasinghe has returned for a rematch against Kandavel. The other organized candidates from last time though will not be on the ballot, and the thousands of votes they collectively earned will now be up for grabs. The question is which way those voters will go.
