Toronto Votes 2026: Beaches-East York council candidate Austin Vieira 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 am Austin Vieira, and I was born and raised right here in Beaches–East York – in fact, I have lived nowhere else.

As an early childhood Montessori educator with two decades of experience and the proud president of CUPE Local 5213, my deep roots in this community give me a firsthand look at the real pressures our families face. Watching neighbours struggle with the skyrocketing costs of housing, childcare, and basic commuting is exactly what drove me to step up.

I am running for City Councillor because our local government needs leadership rooted in genuine empathy and practical action, rather than personal ambition or empty political promises. My campaign is fully dedicated to putting the community first and ending the status quo at City Hall.

As a labour leader and educator, I know how to advocate effectively for people and bring collaborative, sensible solutions to complex issues. I am stepping up to ensure Ward 19 has a strong, dedicated voice focused on the daily essentials that impact your quality of life – like expanding licensed childcare spaces, protecting neighbourhood infrastructure, and building truly affordable housing.

Ahead of the municipal election, I want to be your voice for tangible, positive change, working directly alongside residents to keep our unique neighbourhood safe, affordable, and accessible for everyone.

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

To balance our critical need for housing while preserving the unique character of Beaches–East York, I will fight at City Hall to introduce and enforce strict, predictable planning frameworks.

A key priority of my campaign is to reimplement the Queen Street East Urban Design Guidelines to ensure that any new developments respect the historic, community organizations and developers together early in the process, to figure out together what the community needs, and how new developments can meet those needs – not to give residents any kind of veto, but to give them a voice in outlining what good development should look like, early in the process, when it’s easy to make changes.

We can model this process on City-led developments, making City lands sites for community led development, rather than treating them as parcels to tender out.

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

During my term as City Councillor, I will take direct, measurable actions to combat the affordability crisis where it hits families the hardest: housing, childcare, and everyday commuting costs.

First, I will establish a fast-track initiative at City Hall to build deeply affordable, non-market housing directly on underutilized, city-owned land within Ward 19. By removing the high cost of private land acquisition, we can deliver rental units that working-class families, seniors, and young people can actually afford.

Second, I will champion the rapid expansion of licensed, affordable childcare spaces in our ward, targeting high-need zones to dramatically lower monthly bills for working parents. To provide immediate, daily financial relief while systemic changes take root, I will also establish city-backed partnerships to expand crucial grassroots parent initiatives, such as local diaper banks and childcare co-ops.

Finally, lowering the true cost of living means eliminating hidden transit burdens. I will fight to secure funding for safe, reliable, and equitable transit infrastructure right here in Beaches–East York. This means accelerating accessibility upgrades at all local TTC stations and building network-connected, protected bike lanes. By establishing safe active transportation corridors and optimizing bus routes, we will provide residents with highly dependable, low-cost commuting alternatives.

These integrated steps will ease financial stress, protect household budgets, and ensure our neighborhood remains affordable for everyone.

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?

Managing the immense, high-density residential growth surrounding the Main, Danforth, and Dawes corridors requires an aggressive, infrastructure-first planning framework.

For too long, the city has permitted massive towers to go up before verifying if the local community services can handle the influx. At City Hall, I will implement a strict policy requiring full infrastructure assessments before major zoning approvals are finalized. I will hold developers accountable by maximizing Section 37 and community benefit agreements, ensuring they contribute substantial funding to expand local parks, community centers, and recreational services.

To minimize the immediate pressure on our transit grid, we must aggressively build out safe, alternative commuting options directly inside the neighbourhood.

I will focus heavily on bridging existing infrastructure gaps by creating continuous, protected bike routes that safely link the Danforth and Dawes corridors to major transit hubs and commercial zones. Furthermore, I will pressure the TTC and Metrolinx to fast-track complete accessibility overhauls and service frequency increases at nearby stations, ensuring they are safe and efficient.

By forcing developers to fund our local social infrastructure and building seamless, self-contained active transportation networks, we can absorb this major residential growth. This ensures that Main and Danforth remains a highly functional, safe, and liveable hub for both existing residents and newcomers alike.

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.