Ward 4 — Parkdale-High Park

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

On her campaign website, Theresa Francis says she is a businesswoman, the mother of three TDSB students and a former TDSB student herself. Francis says the voices of students and parents are often undervalued, something she wants to change. She believes all students, regardless of their parent’s economic status, should receive quality education that aligns with their family values and marketplace demands, and a safe school environment free from bullying and discrimination. On her LinkedIn profile, Francis says she has administrative and retail experience, among other roles.

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

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

According to her LinkedIn profile and her campaign website, Debbie King is self-employed as a community organiser and workshop presenter, having presented workshops like the “Parent Power: Setting Up a Black Student Success Committee” for the TDSB Parent Involvement Advisory Committee in 2020. She co-chaired the Dr. Rita Cox – Kina Minogok Public School Parent Council (formerly known as the Queen Victoria Public School Parent Council) and is a founding member and co-chair of the school’s Black Student Success Committee where she promoted equity in the education system. In 2020, Debbie participated as a panellist facilitated by the Parkdale – High Park NDP about community-led, post pandemic recovery. King has also been endorsed by the Toronto & York Region Labour Council. If elected, she plans to boost equity and safety in schools, as well as  support reconciliation efforts, education workers, parent engagement and post-pandemic recovery. She also wants to improve school board funding and neighbourhood capacity for school programs.

Chris Micaels describes himself as a senior analyst, entrepreneur, web designer, technician, and the owner of web design and maintenance business Limestone Tech Services. Prior to this, he says he was a training and correctional officer with the Correctional Service of Canada. Details about this candidate’s campaign were not available at the time of publication.

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

Completing his PhD at the University of Toronto in 2021, Daniel Tarade is a life sciences sessional instructional assistant and lecturer at his alma mater. In 2021, while in university, Tarade ran the student group, The Socialist Caucus of the New Democratic Party. Currently, he is a member, regular contributor and community organizer for Socialist Action Canada. Tarade is also a member of the Municipal Socialist Alliance, which is described as a team of candidates working against oppression and exploitation to advocate for the interests of workers, racialized and LGBTQIA2S+ people, women, seniors and tenants. Immigrating to Canada from Bosnia and Herzegovina as a child refugee, Tarade says he was inspired to pursue science when he witnessed his brother’s experience with Type 1 diabetes and heard how insulin was developed. His motivation for political organizing occurred when, he says, he realized that science alone cannot solve society’s systemic problems.

Jo-Ann Davis is a former TCDSB Trustee for Ward 9, holding the office from 2010 to 2018. During her term, she was elected Chair and Vice Chair of the Toronto Catholic District School Board. She currently serves on several boards including Young People’s Theatre, Escarpment Biosphere Conservancy and Space Place Canada. She also served as the Chair of her son’s elementary school, the St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School’s Parent Council. In May 2019, as Chair, she coordinated a delegation of parents and students to advocate for funding for playground revitalization at a TCDSB Board of Trustees meeting. In June 2019, one month after the delegation, the Board approved an annual $1.2 million Playground Reserve (later doubled to $2.4 million annually) for playground revitalization projects across the district.

Davis is a senior associate at the consulting firm of Leman Group where she specializes in major strategic changes for clients Including mergers and acquisitions. Holding a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s in Chinese politics and law, Davis is the former president of the Toronto branch of the Canadian International Council, an independent, non-partisan organization that engages local citizens in Canadian global affairs. She placed second in the 2018 provincial elections as a Liberal Candidate for University-Rosedale.

Teresa Lubinski is the incumbent trustee for Ward 4, holding office since 2018.  According to her trustee bio, her accomplishments include securing funding for daycare expansion and the creation of new school buildings; she also says she initiated raising the Every Child Matters flag across all schools in the TCDSB. In 2019, she recused herself from a vote to sanction trustee Michael del Grande for equating LGBTQ rights to bestiality and other inappropriate terms during a trustee debate. She also voted against flying the pride flag and the inclusion of inclusive gender terms in the TCDSB Code of Conduct. While there is limited information on Lubinski’s website regarding her campaign for the upcoming election, she emphasizes her commitment to “protecting Catholic education” and points to her work as a trustee.

Barbara Poplawski was a Toronto Catholic School Board trustee from 1978-2018 for Ward 10. During her tenure, she served in a variety of positions including chair of the TCDSB and sat on the board of directors of the Angel Foundation for Learning. Poplawski recently received the 2022 OCSTA Trustee Award of Merit from the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association. In 2010, according to the Toronto Star, Poplawski testified in Ontario Superior Court in a conflict-of-interest dispute against her which argued that in 2008, she removed herself from a vote on teacher layoffs (her daughter is a teacher) and then allegedly made a thumbs-down gesture from the sidelines of the vote. She denied making any gestures, saying she could not recall and would not have tried to influence the vote. On her campaign website, she notes her work spearheading the first “joint-use facility” initiative between TCDSB and the City of Toronto in 1997, resulting in a double gym and community facility at Holy Family Elementary School.

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.