Toronto city council will appoint a candidate to fill the Etobicoke Centre seat vacated by former deputy mayor Doug Holyday rather than holding a costly byelection.
In a special meeting held Monday morning, council voted 22-11 in favour of appointing someone to serve out the remaining year on Holyday’s term after the long-time councillor won a provincial byelection for the Tories earlier this month.
The Etobicoke York Community Council will now hold a special meeting on Oct. 3 to pick its preferred candidate. City council will then meet on Oct. 10 to vote on that recommendation.
The chosen candidate will serve until the next municipal election on Oct. 27, 2014.
“This is democracy. We have saved taxpayers more than $200,000 by appointing somebody and I think people out in Etobicoke will have someone very good representing them for the next year or so,” Coun. Glenn De Baeremaeker told reporters after the vote. “This is what we have done here for the last 10 years. We have had five positions come open in the last decade and we have appointed all councillors in that time.”
Mayor Rob Ford had been pushing for a byelection, which would have cost an estimated $225,000.
At Monday's special meeting, Ford's presentation included video clips from residents who explained why they support a byelection.
The video was put together using footage from a community meeting at a high school in Ward 3 that Ford hosted last week.
“It is not what the people want,” Ford said of the appointment process following the vote. “People overwhelmingly want a byelection. It’s straight-forward. We have to start listening to what the taxpayers want in this city and this council does not do that.”
During Monday’s debate councillors Janet Davis and Gord Perks needled the mayor about whether he would endorse or campaign for a candidate, or use city resources for such a purpose.
Ford flatly said he would not use any taxpayer-funded resources, and any campaigning by himself or his staff would be done on their own time.
As for supporting a candidate, Ford did not rule it out, saying he would support a family member or Holyday’s son, should such a situation unfold.
“If I would have gone on the floor of council and said ‘I am not going to campaign’ I think they would have voted for a byelection,” Ford said after the vote. “I am not going to make a deal with the left so they can put one of their tax and spend lefties in there.”
Former mayoral candidates interested in appointment
At the start of Monday's meeting, Speaker Frances Nunziata declared a conflict of interest and recused herself from the decision because her brother John, a former MP and 2003 mayoral candidate, says he would consider an appointment to replace Holyday.
In a tweet, John Nunziata said he is not considering running for the seat in a byelection.
Coun. John Parker, city council’s deputy speaker, chaired the meeting in Coun. Frances Nunziata’s absence.
Former mayoral candidate Sarah Thomson, who accused Ford of appearing intoxicated and groping her at a charity event earlier this year, indicated Monday that she would also consider an appointment. Ford denied the allegations she made against him after the March event.
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