Rose Milczyn appointed to Toronto city council as interim Ward 1 councillor

With more than two months to go until Toronto’s municipal election, city council has appointed Rose Milczyn to fill the Ward 1 seat left vacant by Michael Ford.

Milczyn, who previously worked as a district bylaw enforcement manager for the City of Toronto as well as in Etobicoke and Mississauga council offices, received 22 out of 25 ballots in favour of filling the Ward 1 Etobicoke North seat.

“For the record, I have no intention of running in the upcoming municipal election. If successful, I see my role as one as a foster mom to the Ward 1 constituents,” Milczyn told members of council Monday afternoon.

“My priority is to serve and assist the residents of Ward 1 until the new permanent councillor is elected in the fall.”

The appointment of Milczyn marks Toronto city council’s second attempt to fill the seat after Ford resigned in June. He was elected as the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPP in the nearby riding of York South–Weston.

RELATED: Toronto City Council to fill Ward 1 seat vacated by Michael Ford

After Ford resigned, council held a similar appointment process. Rosemarie Bryan received 21 out of 23 votes in favour (Josh Matlow and Denzil Minnan-Wong voted for other individuals).

Shortly after Bryan was appointed to fill the vacancy, a number of anti-2SLGBTQ+, Islamophobic and anti-Asian social media posts attributed to her surfaced. She resigned hours after the vote.

Milczyn will serve until the current council term ends on Nov. 14.

Applicants who were eligible to serve as councillors were invited to speak to Toronto city council for five minutes each on Monday. In all, 20 people put their names forward to serve as the Ward 1 councillor.

Under Ontario law, municipal byelections can’t be held after March 31 in an election year and seats must be filled if there are more than 90 days left in the term.

With files from John Marchesan and Momin Qureshi