Ward 2 — Etobicoke Centre

Information about this candidate could not be found at time of publication.

Information about this candidate could not be found at time of publication.

Information about this candidate could not be found at time of publication.

Dan MacLean is the incumbent TDSB Trustee for Ward 2, a position he has held since 2018. According to his campaign website, prior to being elected, he served a parent’s council and was also on the board of a swim club for several years. In May 2022, Maclean voted against and commented publicly on the TDSB vote to change the admissions policy for specialized high schools and programs (the new policy solely bases admission on “expressed interest” over skill testing and performance reviews, and introduced a random selection process when demand outweighs availability). The trustee expressed concern that this decision may affect the level of excellence and “artistic talent” in those schools.

In his re-election campaign, MacLean states his priorities include improving inclusivity, parent involvement, school traffic safety, and ensuring students have access to resources. Maclean also pledges to collaborate with fellow trustees to advocate to the Ministry of Education and Minister Lecce to address per-student funding and school repair funding challenges, as well as other priorities.

Markus de Domenico is the incumbent TCDSB trustee for Ward 2, a position to which he was first elected in 2018. He has a background in music as an award-winning and JUNO-nominated children’s music composer. During his term, he voted in favour of a motion to amend the TCDSB’s code of conduct to include LGBTQ-inclusive language. He also voted in favour of a motion for the TCDSB to recognize June as Pride month and to fly the pride flag both at TCDSB headquarters and every Catholic school during it. As part of his platform, de Domenico prioritises maintaining and expanding Catholic education, academic excellence, and increasing the health and safety of students by implementing HEPA filters for every classroom and improving access to mental health support and special education. He also wants to implement more tutoring for students as part of pandemic recovery. Last year, de Domenico, along with three other TCDSB trustees, wrote a letter to Mayor John Tory and other city councillors to stop advertising in Italian-Canadian newspaper Corriere, after the paper published several homophobic and transphobic articles, including one accusing the TCDSB of promoting pornography on its website by providing a link to counselling website Youthlink. Corriere’s publisher, Joseph Volpe, filed a $30 million defamation lawsuit against the trustees, including de Domenico and two city councillors, that was eventually thrown out.

On her website, Gabriella Mazarakis writes that she worked in a client management position at a sales & marketing services company, and prior to that with the College of Psychologists of Ontario. She says that she is the mother of three children enrolled at the TCDSB, and has volunteered her time as a parish representative for St. Clements School parent council. She also notes recent involvement with Michael Power – St. Joseph High School parent council ​​in a tweet from September 2022. In a fundraiser description for her campaign, she expresses that she will follow the guidance of the Archbishop of Toronto on matters relating to Catholicism in education, as opposed to other trustees who she says have rejected his guidance. She wants to focus on promoting unity amongst the board, addressing declining enrolment at TCDSB schools, and ensuring the curriculum encourages academic performance, faith based values, and aligns with the recommendations put forth by the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) released its Right to Read inquiry report.

Geneviève Oger is the incumbent trustee for Conseil scolaire Viamonde Ward 4 – Ouest. She was elected in 2018 and has won the election by acclamation for the coming term, given she is running unopposed. Oger is the acting Senior Policy & Issues Advisor to the Deputy Minister’s Office at the Ontario Ministry of Francophone Affairs. She was the former media spokesperson for the Ontario Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services, and was formerly a journalist. She is also vice chair of the Conseil Scolaire Viamonde – Ouest board and sits on the board of directors for Association des Conseils Scolaires des écoles publiques de l’Ontario. As part of her 2018 campaign, Oger said she prioritizes inclusivity in schools, providing support for multicultural, multilingual families to pass on their language and culture to the next generation, and ensuring the engagement and consultation of parents in decision-making.

Nathalie Dufour Séguin is the incumbent trustee for MonAvenir Ward 3 – Toronto Ouest and has been re-elected by acclamation for the 2022 term as she is running unopposed. She was first elected trustee by ballot vote in 2006 and received acclamation in 2010. In 2014, she decided to step down to pursue other projects and was re-elected by ballot vote in 2018. Outside of the TCDSB, Dufour Séguin is an Education Community Relationship Manager for Groupe Média TFO, a media company that generates educational and cultural content for the Ontario Francophone community. She is also a former board member and former president of Toronto Francophone Women’s Shelter La Maison d’hébergement francophone de Toronto.

Dufour Séguin is on the MonAvenir School Council, having originally joined in 2006 when she became trustee (when the school was named Conseil scolaire de district catholique Centre-Sud). After serving as vice president for two years, she was elected president in 2012, a role she held until 2014. In 2013, under Dufour Séguin’s leadership, the school council launched a discrimination action against the province as a means of forcing the Ministry of Education to replace one of their Hamilton-based schools with a new, larger building for the expanded student population. An issue Dufour Séguin said people have been advocating for since the 1990’s, the council invoked charter rights by arguing the Francophone school was not being resourced adequately and therefore access to education was not equal to those in Anglophone schools.