Toronto Votes 2026: Beaches-East York council candidate Kevin Morrison answers our questions

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Beaches–East York voters will cast their ballots on Monday, Oct. 26, in Toronto’s municipal election. Along with voting for mayor and school trustee, local voters will be looking to elect a new councillor for Ward 19 Beaches-East York.
There are 13 candidates running for the council seat in Beaches-East York. The seat is open as incumbent councillor Brad Bradford is now running for mayor in this municipal election. For this Question and Answer feature below, Beach Metro Community News reached out to the candidates who we could find contact information for and asked them to send their answers in by a set deadline. We are only printing the answers of the 11 candidates who responded by the deadline. Please note the candidates’ answers to the first two questions in this feature are also appearing in the Sept. 22 print edition of Beach Metro Community News.)

QUESTION 1: Tell us a bit about yourself and why your are running for city councillor in Ward 19 Beaches-East York?

I have lived in Beaches-East York for 30 years. I raised my family in East York, on the Danforth and in the Beaches.

I am a schoolboard trustee and outgoing vice-chair of one of the world’s largest school boards. I already have strong working relationships with many of our current councillors and mayor.

I am a community leader who has served in prominent volunteer positions within our community including WoodGreen and on the board of the Angel Foundation – a charity that provides 68,000 daily meals to students. I am a founding member of the Fund our Schools campaign to protest cuts to education. I also successfully negotiated the construction of a new state-of-the-art school for children with special needs.

When city hall tried to open a homeless shelter beside an elementary school, I led the community opposition that stopped it. I stood up to Doug Ford and won, when he wanted to eliminate local democracy and get rid of trustees and the voice of parents. I worked with developers to ensure they bring community-based solutions to new developments in BEY including green space, parks, more childcare spaces and playgrounds.

I received the Queens Platinum Jubilee Award in 2023 for community leadership and advocating for residents.

I am running because our ward needs a councillor who will listen to your concerns, respond in a timely manner and work directly with you to solve problems. I come with an excellent track record of getting the job done! Experience matters.

QUESTION 2: What changes, if any, would you advocate for at city hall to balance the need for more housing while preserving neighbourhood character?

Affordable housing and development are essential for our city and our community. I have spoken with thousands of residents across BEY and I consistently hear that people want to keep their family close and live in a safe, clean and healthy community. That means we need to invest in affordable housing throughout our community.

It’s simply not enough to build housing as fast as possible. We need to ensure that it contributes to building healthy communities. That means building infrastructure to support healthy growing communities. When large housing projects come to our community, I will be front and centre to ensure that schools, parks, green spaces, community centres, and transit are included in the development plan.

BEY is a beautiful and historic community and it is clear that some housing density projects are not suitable for all neighbourhoods. For example, large multi-unit dwellings do not belong on all residential side streets, and their construction threatens the unique character and usability of the neighbourhood.

It’s essential that large multi-unit dwellings need to be planned in conjunction with residents. I will ensure you are a voice at the table for all developments in BEY.

As your councillor, I will work to make sure that busy main streets bear most of the housing density, while residential side streets are largely left intact. This will preserve our community and our unique BEY culture and history for future generations.

QUESTION 3: As city councillor, what specific actions would take during your term to make Beaches-East York affordable for all residents?

As a parent to four adult daughters who are just starting out, I understand how important affordability is. As a single parent, I also understand the hard choices we have to make just to get by. The affordability crisis isn’t going away anytime soon.

As your councillor, there are several solutions that I would like to see implemented.

We need to bring back rent control. While this is a provincial issue, our mayor and city council need to push for the return of rent control. I would like to see the expansion of the RentSafe program to include smaller landlords so that all tenants can benefit from protection. I will also support the continued expansion of the RentBank to provide more options for people facing eviction and homelessness.

I will work towards licensing all landlords and use this system to crack down on renovictions to make it harder for landlords to evict tenants only to increase the rent for new renters.

I will work to bring an enhanced version of property tax reduction for seniors that is based on need, so that they can continue to stay in their home and age in place. I support the expansion of free TTC transit for all students and seniors on a means tested basis.

I will support the introduction of a public grocer to tackle the monopoly of large grocery chains. I will also propose the introduction of a tax reduction for small independent grocers to help them compete and grow.

QUESTION 4: As city councillor for Beaches-East York, how would you ensure infrastructure near Main and Danforth/Dawes can support the area’s major residential growth while minimizing pressure on transit and community services?

At this time, we are not ready for the influx of almost 20,000 people that will be moving to the Main and Danforth community. A stunning lack of insight and planning has occurred in the rush to get affordable housing built in a transit accessible community. This is a failure in leadership and common sense.

As an experienced community leader and school board trustee, I have had considerable success getting a new state-of-the-art school built. I have worked with developers to make sure their projects include social infrastructure such as space for childcare, small grocery stores, green space, parks, dog parks, and play structures.

As your councilor I will continue to work with all levels of government to make sure a new school is built to replace Secord Elementary School. I will also work to get a new health centre built to support our growing population.

The entire BEY community needs a new community hub to replace aging infrastructure. I will champion the construction of a massive new community and recreation centre on the current site of Ted Reeve Arena and playing fields to accommodate all community teams and sports. I will also work to ensure enhanced programming and resources are available for seniors and young families.

My vision for this new community and recreation centre is that it will include community and social service resources to tackle unemployment, drug use and homelessness in our community. This is how we build healthy, safe and prosperous communities.

Beaches-East York council candidates’ open house slated for Monday, Oct. 5

A public meet-and-greet with candidates running for council in the Ward 19 Beaches–East York municipal election will take place on Monday, Oct. 5, at Beach United Church.

The Beaches–East York Municipal Candidate Meet and Greet is being co-hosted by Beach Metro Community News and the Balmy Beach Resident’s Association. It will run from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the church, 140 Wineva Ave., in the fully accessible Main Hall.

There are 13 candidates seeking the Ward 19 city council seat in the Oct. 26 municipal election. 

Twelve candidates have confirmed they will participate in the Oct. 5 event: Syeda Janna Ali, James Dann, Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, Natalie Johnson, Kevin Morrison, Karsten Riedel, Mohammad Shabani, Adam Smith, Austin Vieira, Jeff Wahl, Devin Wilkins and Jennie Worden.

The event will be a meet-and-greet, with candidates at individual tables, allowing residents to circulate and speak with them directly.