Ward 20 — Scarborough Southwest

Guled Arale was a New Democratic Party parliamentary candidate for Scarborough Southwest in the 2021 federal election, having placed third out of six candidates. While attending University of Toronto Scarborough, Arale was involved in community leadership groups, including as VP External of the Students’ Union in 2013. In 2016, he worked as an outreach worker for the Council of Agencies Serving South Asians. In a 2021 podcast interview, where he shared his views on universal basic income, affordable housing and other issues, the Scarborough native noted he has worked for the NDP for over a decade, including as a regional representative in Metro Toronto. Arale also says he contributed to the creation of an Anti-Racism Directorate in Ontario.

In this election, Arale has been endorsed by the Toronto & York Region Labour Council. If elected for trustee, Arale says he will push back on Doug Ford’s education cuts and advocate for greater funding, smaller class sizes, mental health support, infrastructure upgrades and safer schools that will protect students from future COVID waves.

On her campaign website, Malika Ghous describes herself as a former TDSB school student with business administration and management experience, as well as a sister to current TDSB students. She is interested in being a young voice at the table to increase support and programs for student mental health, special education and post-graduation preparation. If elected, Ghous says she will also advocate for school renovation funding.

Naser Kaid is a graduate of Carleton University with a degree in computer math and works as a taxi driver. Kaid previously ran for the position in 2014 where he placed tenth out of ten candidates. As a taxi driver, he has spoken publicly about the rising cost of living, the introduction of ride-share apps like Uber and the safety and economic challenges in the taxi industry.

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

A realtor for over 20 years, Robert McDermott previously ran for Ward 20 city councillor in the 2018 municipal election, placing eighth out of ten candidates. In 2010 and 2014, he ran for Ward 36 city councillor, placing eighth out of ten candidates and fifth out of eight candidates respectively. As a Ward 20 councillor candidate in 2018, he focused his campaign on the de-amalgamation of Scarborough from the City of Toronto, founding the community group, Free Scarborough. On November 29, 2020, McDermott shared a change.org petition he created, calling on the Ontario government to revoke pandemic restrictions on local businesses and allow them to re-open on the grounds that such restrictions were unconstitutional and that in his words, we need to save our economy. He is also the founder of the Toronto Land Transfer Tax Coalition Facebook group, which advocated against the Municipal Land Transfer Tax during his 2018 campaign and generally opposed government interference in real estate. He also supported a living wage, reducing the voting age to 16, a twenty-five seat city council, affordable housing, poverty reduction, as well as other priorities. We could find little to no information online about his trustee campaign at the time of publication.

According to his campaign website, Sonny Mir is an entrepreneur with experience in non-profit management. He ran in the 2021 Federal Election as a Green Party Candidate for Oshawa where he placed fifth out of five candidates.

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

Anna Sidiropoulos is a mom-of-three and is a community advocate and leader, serving as the Chair for the parent council at her children’s school (where she also attended). Sidiropoulos previously ran for the office in 2018 where she placed third with 2843 votes. As part of her campaign, she wants to increase parent engagement and introduce new curriculum programs to enhance student learning.

Nancy Crawford is the incumbent TCDSB trustee for Ward 12, holding the position since 2010. Crawford has served as the vice-chair of the Toronto Catholic School Board. She was also appointed to the board of directors of the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ in April 2022. In a submitted campaign profile for Beach Metro Community News, Crawford notes that prior to being elected, she worked in Human Resources for the City of Toronto for 30 years and also holds a Master’s degree in Education from OISE, University of Toronto. Notably, as a trustee in 2019,  she voted against motions to include the terms ‘gender identity’ and ‘gender expression in the TCDSB’s code of conduct, proclaim June ‘Pride Month’, and fly the pride flag, all of which ultimately passed. According to her campaign website, Crawford describes herself as a strong advocate for Catholic education, building and programming improvements, and developing relationships with other elected representatives, among other priorities.

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

Benoit Fortin is the incumbent trustee for Conseil scolaire Viamonde Ward 2 – Est. He has held office since 2018, and has been elected by acclamation in this year’s election given he was running unopposed. Fortin is the founding member and Vice President of Development in Africa and India of Skypower, which develops, funds and runs utility-scale renewable power projects internationally. He is also vice-president of the Association des conseils scolaires des écoles publiques de l’Ontario board of directors, which represents all French-language public school boards in the province. While there is limited information about his priorities, Fortin has commented publicly as vice-president of the board on the importance of keeping students in the francophone school system until grade 12 and of meeting the specific needs of a growing francophone community following an announcement of funding from the Ontario government to build a new school.

The City Clerk has voided the election for the MonAvenir school board in this ward. The election will not take place on October 24 and a by-election will be held at a later date.

The City Clerk has voided the election for the MonAvenir school board in this ward. The election will not take place on October 24 and a by-election will be held at a later date. In an email to parents sent on October 21, Rawdat said he was ending his campaign. Read more about ineligible trustees running in French-language schools.

The City Clerk has voided the election for the MonAvenir school board in this ward. The election will not take place on October 24 and a by-election will be held at a later date. On October 21, Wilson notified the city clerk that he is not eligible to hold office. Read more about ineligible trustees running in French-language schools.