About the Ward
With a population of 109,465, Beaches-East York includes the neighbourhoods of the Beaches, East Danforth, Upper Beaches, O’Conner Parkview, and part of Old East York. Just 32 percent of the ward’s residents are immigrants (compared to 47 percent city-wide) and only 34 percent identify as visible minorities (compared to 51 percent across Toronto). The ward’s incumbent councillor, Brad Bradford, was elected in 2018.
Where the Candidates Stand
There are six candidates running against Bradford, including a number of politicians and community organizers. Many would support progressive measures on council.
The matrix below provides a head-to-head comparison of where council candidates stand. The Local combed through city council records to review all the decisions made over the last four years and identified a dozen votes that are the most telling on key issues: homelessness, transportation, housing, policing, taxes, and the environment. We then sent the challengers a survey asking them how they would have voted on those same 12 motions, and compared the results to Bradford’s votes.
Four candidates responded to The Local’s survey.
Here Are the Takeaways
- Jennie Worden has the most progressive vote record. She is in favour of raising property taxes, and would cut the police budget to fund rent supplements—the only candidate in Ward 19 to do so.
- Unusually, there is no issue in this ward that every candidate agrees on. Frank Marra would not even support the stormwater charge or industrial waste surcharge increase, measures widely supported by most candidates The Local polled, and by John Tory.
- Adam Smith said he would hike property taxes to pay for a TTC fare freeze, but declined to say whether he would raise them two percent; Smith’s response to the survey indicated that “some things I would do but take it even further, so my answer to the question would be ‘no’ but not because I’m against it, but rather because the policy doesn’t go far enough.”
- The most conservative candidate was Marra, who would vote against or declined to answer most of the poll questions. He did take progressive stances on housing, however.
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Information in Candidate Tracker was compiled and written by The Local’s team of journalists and fact checkers. City council candidates were emailed a questionnaire asking for information about their history, experience, and plans. They were also surveyed about their stances on twelve key votes that took place in the 2018-22 council term. Not all candidates were reachable or responded. The Local also conducted its own research to independently source and verify information about each city council and school trustee candidate. If you’re a candidate whose information is not here, please email us at elections@thelocal.to. Last updated: October 22, 2022.
Contributors: Inori Roy, Ann Marie Elpa, Nikky Manfredi, Danielle Orr, H.G. Watson, Emma Buchanan, Dhriti Gupta, Zeahaa Rehman, Neville Park, Nicholas Hune-Brown, Tai Huynh, Craig Madho, Steve Combes, and Lia Mattacchione.