Toronto Star endorses Tamil Canadian Neethan Shan for Ward 42 (Scarborough Rouge River) Toronto City Councillor
http://www.neethanshan.ca/
Ward 42 Scarborough-Rouge River:
It’s time for long-time incumbent Raymond Cho to move on. Our choice to replace him is Neethan Shan, head of the Council of Agencies Serving South Asians. Shan is a long-serving community activist doing good work in Malvern.
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The Star's choices for Toronto council, Wards 22-44
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/877330--star-s-choices-more-fresh-faces-for-city-council
Vaughan, Maple, Kleinburg
Learn More B4 October 25th...
An Important Election Decision!
TimeForChangeVaughan.com
On Monday, we presented our election choices in Wards 1-21. Today, we offer endorsements for the remaining wards:
Ward 22 St. Paul’s: Two strong challengers are running in this ward, vacated by council maverick Michael Walker. Energetic Chris Sellors knows the ward well, having served as Walker’s assistant. Rival Josh Matlow is a bold public school trustee unafraid to question authority. We favour Matlow to better challenge the status quo.
Ward 23 Willowdale: Incumbent John Filion spearheaded Toronto’s ethnic food cart program, which he later admited was a “fiasco,” and he hasn’t been a strong supporter of cutting council perks. Still, Filion has done good work chairing the board of health and generally votes sensibly. A tepid endorsement here.
Ward 24 Willowdale: Less than a year after being elected in the last municipal vote, incumbent David Shiner ran for the provincial legislature. He intended to collect his council salary while campaigning until he was shamed into taking an unpaid leave. Rather than keep this opportunist in office, we favour Sonny Cho, a successful commercial real estate broker with Liberal roots and fresh vision.
Ward 25 Don Valley West: Incumbent Cliff Jenkins has done some good work, but challenger Jaye Robinson holds brighter promise. She has effectively promoted the city as a staffer in its economic development division, and she could do even more as a councillor.
Ward 26 Don Valley West: Our enthusiastic nod goes to Mohamed Dhanani over incumbent John Parker. Dhanani, who lived in the Flemingdon Park part of the ward before graduating from Yale, has worked in government, business and the community.
Ward 27 Toronto Centre-Rosedale: With Kyle Rae leaving the scene, a sharp fight has developed between two strong candidates over this open seat. Kristyn Wong-Tam is an art gallery owner, real estate agent and respected city-builder. But our choice is Ken Chan, an ex-cop who earned an MBA and worked at Queen’s Park before going to England to advise London Mayor Boris Johnson on community safety. He’ll bring a multi-faceted perspective to city hall.
Ward 28 Toronto Centre-Rosedale: Incumbent Pam McConnell hasn’t been a stellar performer, but we remain unconvinced that any of her rivals would do any better. She gets our reluctant endorsement.
Ward 29 Toronto-Danforth: Three capable women are seeking this open seat, formerly held by Case Ootes. Jane Pitfield, a former councillor and past mayoral candidate, has political experience while business person Mary Fragedakis offers a fresh perspective. We prefer lawyer Jennifer Wood, a senior legal counsel at RBC. City hall could benefit from her corporate savvy.
Ward 30 Toronto-Danforth: Among this year’s missteps, incumbent Paula Fletcher berated a resident questioning the budget and fumbled her vote on a major bike lane. On the other hand, she’s a progressive voice in council. Fletcher gets our endorsement.
Ward 31 Beaches-East York: Incumbent Janet Davis provides solid, well-informed service. She’s a hard-working asset on council
Ward 32 Beaches-East York: Mary-Margaret McMahon is an inspiring community volunteer and city-builder. Sandra Bussin is an incumbent with a strong sense of self-entitlement. We support McMahon.
Ward 33 Don Valley East: Incumbent Shelley Carroll is one of council’s best and brightest and deserves to be returned.
Ward 34 Don Valley East: Incumbent Denzil Minnan-Wong is seasoned, articulate and thoughtful conservative. He’s our choice here.
Ward 35 Scarborough Southwest: Incumbent Adrian Heaps settled out of court with his chief opponent in 2006, Michelle Berardinetti, in a libel action arising from that campaign. Council then approved spending some $65,000 to reimburse him for his legal expenses, against the advice of the city solicitor. In the ensuing public uproar, Heaps turned the money down. Voters now get to cast their judgment. Our nod goes to Berardinetti, who is running again.
Ward 36 Scarborough Southwest: With Brian Ashton’s departure, 10 candidates are vying for this seat. We like Robert Spencer. He’s an articulate environmental consultant with school board experience and one of the few credible candidates in this part of the city who isn’t blindly opposed to wind turbines.
Ward 37 Scarborough Centre: Incumbent Michael Thompson works hard and is a dedicated advocate of his ward. He should be returned.
Ward 38 Scarborough Centre: Incumbent Glenn De Baeremaeker is a strong and compelling progressive who deserves re-election.
Ward 39 Scarborough-Agincourt: Incumbent Mike Del Grande is unimpressive, but neither of his two opponents inspires any confidence. No endorsement here.
Ward 40 Scarborough-Agincourt: He has spent more than 20 years in municipal office; yet incumbent Norm Kelly still fails to impress. Well-spoken Bryan Heal, a worker at non-profit agency helping children and youth, deserves a chance to show what he can do.
Ward 41 Scarborough-Rouge River: Incumbent Chin Lee has done good work on municipal election reform but should strive to play a larger role on council. He gets a lukewarm endorsement.
Ward 42
Scarborough-Rouge River: It’s time for long-time incumbent Raymond Cho to move on. Our choice to replace him is Neethan Shan, head of the Council of Agencies Serving South Asians. Shan is a long-serving community activist doing good work in Malvern.
Ward 43 Scarborough East: Incumbent Paul Ainslie is opposed to wind turbines and hasn’t exactly been a dynamo on council. But his main opponent, John Laforet, heads an Ontario-wide anti-wind coalition and is unlikely to be an improvement. A low-voltage endorsement goes to Ainslie.
Ward 44 Scarborough East: Incumbent Ron Moeser is hardly visible at city hall and doesn’t deserve to be returned. A far better choice is Diana Hall, who lost to Moeser by just 61 votes in 2006. Hall knows the ward well and is a thoughtful conservative. She, once again, has our support.