An incumbent city councillor has scrapped her plans to run for re-election in her ward and will instead join a crowded field of candidates vying to represent Toronto-Danforth at city hall.
Dianne Saxe showed up at Toronto City Hall moments prior to the 2 p.m. deadline for filing nomination paperwork on Friday and officially withdrew as a candidate in University-Rosedale.
Saxe will now join a field of 12 candidates in Toronto-Danforth, which was left without an incumbent after Paul Fletcher abruptly announced her plans to retire on Wednesday.
Saxe’s decision to switch wards also comes after former Toronto city councillor Mike Layton announced his plans to run in University-Rosedale on Monday.
Asked if that was a factor in her decision, Saxe said that she believes it is better “to have two environmental champions than one” in an apparent reference to Layton’s environmental advocacy and recent work as the chief sustainability officer at York University.
Another candidate in University-Rosedale - Gabe Blanc - also withdrew from the race on Friday and publicly endorsed Layton in a post on social media.
In a statement, Saxe said that she has “long admired Toronto-Danforth for its strong neighbourhoods, vibrant main streets, diversity and deep sense of community.”
She said that she views herself as a “independent progressive voice” and believes in making Toronto a “more livable city.”
“I am running in Toronto-Danforth, I am a big fan of that neighbourhood, I am a good match for their challenges and I am looking forward to it,” Saxe said when asked by reporters at city hall about the reasons for her pivot.
Saxe was first elected to Toronto City Council in 2022.
Prior to that, she served in the now discontinued role of environmental commissioner of Ontario and previously as the deputy leader of the Ontario Green party.
Speaking with reporters, she described Toronto-Danforth as a “very environmentally-focused community” and said the issues that residents in the ward face are ones she has spent her “whole life” working on.
“I have been paying intense attention to them (the issues) as they came though council, community council and infrastructure and environment committee over the last number of years. Every single motion as it relates to Toronto-Danforth is something I have worked on and voted on,” she said.
Fletcher had filed nomination papers to seek re-election in Toronto-Danforth on Monday but changed her mind two days later and said that she would retire instead.
Fletcher later endorsed TDSB trustee Sara Ehrhardt to succeed her in the ward.
Earlier on Friday, another high-profile contender also jumped into the now open race in Toronto-Danforth when former city councillor Mary Fragedakis filed her nomination papers.
Fragedakis told reporters at city hall that while she did not consider entering the race until Fletcher announced her retirement earlier this week, she views a return to the political arena as a “continuation” of the public service she has dedicated her life to.
Fragedakis served as the executive director of the GreekTown on the Danforth BIA after leaving city council but is no longer in that role.
“I actually think I am in a better place eight years later to bring back something different to city hall. I think that is what the city needs right now: people with practical experience on how to execute the policies that are passed in this place,” she said.
Little change to mayoral race
There was a flurry of activity prior to the 2 p.m. deadline for candidates to either add or remove their names from the ballots but the Toronto mayoral races remains largely unchanged, with no high-profile additions.
A total of 51 candidates will appear on the Toronto mayoral ballot but most polls indicate that it is likely to be a three-way race between Olivia Chow, Brad Bradford and Chris Alexander.
One of the other candidates registering at the last minute on Friday was former Liberal MP Shaun Chen, who is seeking election in Scarborough North.
Chen resigned from Parliament earlier this month, citing challenges related to commuting to and from Ottawa after being involved in a serious car accident last year.
He joins a field of eight candidates in Scarborough North, including incumbent Jamal Myers.
“I was commuting to Ottawa and my car flipped over on the side of the highway. When I woke up from that experience I was hanging upside down and for me that experience really changed how travel was for me between Scarborough North and Parliament,” Chen explained to CP24. “Going to Ottawa requires a weekly commute, it is a three or four hour trip whether you fly, drive or take another mode of transport and it got to the point where I realized I could not fulfill my Parliamentary duties with that level of commitment in travel.”
There are multiple candidates seeking election in all 25 of Toronto’s municipal wards. However, there are four school trustee races in Toronto where candidates are running unopposed.
