Who is Jennifer McKelvie? More on the councillor set to become Toronto’s acting mayor
Posted February 10, 2023 11:58 pm.
Last Updated February 11, 2023 10:13 am.
With the unexpected resignation of Toronto Mayor John Tory, the city’s deputy mayor and councillor for Ward 25 Scarborough–Rouge Park Jennifer McKelvie is on track to become the acting mayor.
During a news conference at Toronto city hall Friday evening, Tory said he “developed a relationship” with a former staff member in his office during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. The details of the affair were first published in The Toronto Star.
Tory announced he would be resigning from his position and working with McKelvie and other officials to “ensure there’s an orderly transition in the coming days.”
It was on Nov. 16, a day after the new Toronto city council began its 2022-2026 term, when Tory named McKelvie as the deputy mayor. It was a statutory appointment, which meant she can act by law as the mayor’s designate if he’s away from the city, off on sick leave or if the mayor’s role is vacant.
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In a statement announcing her appointment, Tory described McKelvie as a “hardworking” and “experienced” councillor.
“I am confident that she shares my commitment to getting more housing built as quickly as possible, getting our $28-billion transit plan built across the city, keeping our city as affordable as possible, and making sure the nuts and bolts of municipal government work,” he said in the statement.
McKelvie, in the same statement, said she was “proud to support” Tory’s agenda.
According to her official biography, McKelvie and her family moved to Scarborough’s east end in 2005. After graduating from the University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus, she practiced as a professional geoscientist. McKelvie went on to do postgraduate environmental research and worked in the non-profit sector.
She also served in various community volunteer capacities, such as being the inaugural president of the Scarborough Community Renewal Organization and as president of the Centennial Community & Recreation Association.
Jennifer McKelvie elected to Toronto city council in 2018
McKelvie first sought to be a councillor in 2014, challenging then-Councillor Ron Moeser with 13 others to represent the former Ward 44 at Toronto city hall. She came in second with 5,844 votes compared to his 6,416 votes.
After the Ford government consolidated Toronto’s 44 wards into 25 during the 2018 election campaign, McKelvie filed to run in the new riding of Scarborough–Rouge Park. The ward’s boundaries are roughly Morningside Avenue, Highway 401, Neilson Road, through the Brookside neighbourhood to Steeles Avenue East and the Toronto-Pickering border in Rouge Urban National Park.
McKelvie had one of the tightest council races in the city of Toronto. She beat Neethan Shan by just 154 votes (11,624 to 11,470). There were nine other candidates in the race that trailed both McKelvie and Shan.
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During the 2018-2022 term, McKelvie often aligned with Tory on many issues.
The 2022 election in October saw a much narrower field of candidates. McKelvie had just two opponents in that race and won with 14,168. Jacinta Kanakaratnam and Ashan Fernando were well behind with 3,449 and 1,984 votes, respectively.
In addition to being named deputy mayor for the current term of Toronto city council, McKelvie serves as vice-chair of the powerful executive committee and chair of the infrastructure and environment committee. She’s also on the Scarborough Community Council, Toronto Zoo board of management and the Toronto Hydro Corporation.
