Rookie councillors gear up for first term in council
Posted December 2, 2014 4:40 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It’s a brand new day in Toronto politics: the new city council was sworn in on Tuesday afternoon in its first meeting of a four-year term.
There are seven new faces in council chambers, including former Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis.
“I’m the new kid on the block,” said Karygiannis, who represents Ward 39 Scarborough-Agincourt — the riding he represented at the federal level.
Karygiannis said he is rearing to go on his first big project, which is the “TTC bus garage that they want to put up, there’s a fight there … maybe one or two per cent of the residents are in favour, the rest are not.”
After more than 20 years as a Liberal MP, Karygiannis resigned his seat in April to run for city council. Former budget chief Mike Del Grande did not seek re-election.
Justin Di Ciano, the new councillor for Ward 5 Etobicoke-Lakeshore, plans to fight to increase the city’s development charges, saying that the city is losing out on millions of dollars in income.
“The development community is going to tell you that increased development charges is going to increase the price of homes. For me, it’s just like the oil and gas industry saying that global warming isn’t real,” Justin Di Ciano said.
Di Ciano also has his eye on the development on Dundas Street West.
“It’s slated for massive intensification over the next five to 10 years, bringing tens of thousands of people to the area. We got to get that plan right,” he said.
The ward become empty after veteran councillor Peter Milczyn won the Etobicoke-Lakeshore riding for the Liberals in the June provincial election. In an ironic twist, Di Ciano lost to Milczyn in the 2010 municipal election.
Stephen Holyday, councillor for Ward 3 Etobicoke Centre, the son of former deputy mayor Doug Holyday, said he has “big shoes to fill.”
“Both what my dad did for over 30 years, and of course councillor Leon [who] was in this office beforehand. I had the benefit of chatting with Leon and his pledges to stay in touch with me. And of course, I’ve got my dad to look to to get some advice,” Holyday said.
Holyday has worked as a manager with the Ontario Ministry of Energy, and took a leave from the job in September to run in the election.
Some of the other news councillors include Christin Carmichael Greb (Ward 16 Eglinton-Lawrence), Stephen Holyday (Ward 3 Etobicoke Centre), John Campbell (Ward 4 Etobicoke Centre), Joe Cressy (Ward 20 Trinity-Spadina), and Jon Burnside (Ward 26 Don Valley West).
With files from Sarah-Joyce Battersby and Showwei Chu
