A pair of Meet the Candidates events for Beaches-East York residents are planned for next week.
Presented by the Beaches Interfaith Committee of local congregations within the Ward 19 Beaches-East York municipal boundaries, the events are planned for Sunday, Oct. 2, and Thursday, Oct. 6.
The events will be held in a “meet-and-greet style,” and are not presented as political debates.
Organizers said the meeting formats will be “informal.” Candidates will be offered two minutes to introduce themselves and then voters and candidates are invited to mingle.
The first one is Oct. 2 from 1 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. at St. Aidan’s Anglican Church, 2423 Queen St. E. It should be noted that Oct. 2 is also the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi where St. Aidan’s holds a blessing of the animals. That has been slated for 3 p.m. to take place after the candidates’ event but to allow those attending the blessing to also meet with those seeking election locally.
The second meet-and-greet is on Oct. 6 at Kimbourne United Church at 200 Wolverleigh Blvd. starting at 7 p.m.
The theme of both events is City Building with Equity.
“The focus will be on the candidates’ perspectives on the city’s role in addressing climate change (at St. Aidan’s) and poverty and food security (at Kimbourne),” said the organizers.
“Representatives of the Interfaith group agree that members of their congregations should inform themselves of candidates’ approaches to these and other issues that reflect their faith values. Many municipal responsibilities have a direct bearing on the way the community treats people who live on the margins and it is important for congregations to reflect on how the candidates align with their sense of what is right. That said, no congregation will be instructing its members on how to vote. Hosting this event is a way that the synagogue, mosque and churches can support informed ethical decision-making.”
The Beaches Interfaith Committee said it is sponsoring these candidate events because municipal politicians have a significant role in addressing a number of issue affecting the environment and people living on the social and economic margins of society.
“It is important for us to leverage our voices to ensure that politicians hear of our moral concerns about our neighbours.”
For more information about these events, please contact Paul Dowling, (chair of the Beaches Interfaith Group) at pdowling@rogers.com; Nicholas White, (head of Outreach at Kimbourne United Church) at nr.whte@gmail.com; or Michael Van Dusen, (deacon at St. Aidan’s) at mjpvandusen@gmail.com
Below is a list of candidates running in the areas covered by Beach Metro Community News. Election Day in Toronto is Oct. 24.
WARD 20 SCARBOROUGH SOUTHWEST
There are eight candidates running for the council seat in Ward 20 Scarborough Southwest.
Challenging incumbent councillor Gary Crawford are Corey David, Lorenzo Berardinetti, Parthi Kandavel, Philip Mills, Kevin Rupasinghe, Sharif Ahmed, and Malik Ahmad.
WARD 19 BEACHES-EAST YORK
A total of seven candidates are running for the council seat in Ward 19 Beaches-East York. In the 2018 municipal election, 16 candidates ran for the seat.
Taking on incumbent councillor Brad Bradford in this fall’s election are Frank Marra, Donna Braniff, Sébastien Auger, Adam Smith, Steven Thompson and Jennie Worden.
WARD 14 TORONTO-DANFORTH
Incumbent councillor Paula Fletcher in Ward 14 Toronto-Danforth has four challengers.
Also seeking the seat are John De Marco, Wali Abro, James Dyson and Denise Walcott.
TORONTO DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD TRUSTEE RACES IN EAST TORONTO
Municipal elections also see school board trustees running for their positions.
The race for Toronto District School Board (TDSB) trustee in Ward 18 (Scarborough Southwest) has all fresh faces in the race. Running for the trustee position are Kim Martin, Robert McDermott, Guled Arale, Malika Ghous, Naser Kaid, Sonny Mir, and Anna Sidiropoulos.
In the TDSB’s Ward 16 (Beaches-East York) incumbent trustee Michelle Aarts is being challenged for the seat by Chris Jones and Sanjai Kumar.
In Ward 15 (Toronto-Danforth), incumbent TDSB Trustee Jennifer Story is leaving her position which she held since 2014. Looking to replace her are Sara Ehrhardt, Matt Farrell, Sukhpreet Sangha and Nicole Ufoegbune.
TORONTO CATHOLIC DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD TRUSTEE RACES IN EAST TORONTO
In Ward 12 (which covers the Scarborough Southwest area) incumbent Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) Trustee Nancy Crawford will face off against Grazia Cubellis.
In Ward 11 (which includes the Beaches-East York and Toronto-Danforth areas) incumbent TCDSB Trustee Angela Kennedy will be challenged by candidates Celine DiNova, Lisa Romano Dwyer, and Anton Perera.
FRENCH SCHOOL BOARD TRUSTEE RACES IN EAST TORONTO
Ward 3 of the Conseil scolaire Viamonde for French-first public education is the only ward out of three in Toronto that has a race for the trustee position. There is no incumbent running in Ward 3 as Chloe Robert is not seeking re-election. Candidates running for the trustee position in Ward 3 are Amina Bibi Bhaiyat and Joseph Frascà.
In the Conseil scolaire Viamonde, Ward 2’s Benoit Fortin and Geneviève Oger of Ward 4 are running unchallenged and will be acclaimed to the trustee positions.
The Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir Catholic school board for French-first Catholic schools in Ontario saw its first three candidates sign up for Ward 4 this week.
Daniel Martin, Salah Rawdat and Paul Wilson will go head-to-head in a race to represent the ward which covers Toronto’s entire eastern region. Anne Godbout was elected as Trustee in 2018 but will not be campaigning this term.
For continuing coverage of this year’s local municipal election races, please see upcoming print editions of Beach Metro Community News and continue to visit our website at https://beachmetro.com/
For specific voting information from the City of Toronto, please visit https://www.toronto.ca/news/torontos-2022-municipal-election/
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