Ward 8 — Eglinton-Lawrence

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 the time of publication.

Shelley Laskin is the incumbent TDSB Trustee for Ward 8, holding office since 2018. Prior to ward boundary changes, she was elected TDSB Trustee for Ward 11 in 2014 and 2010. From 1997 to 2003, she also served two terms as Trustee for the same ward. Laskin has a background in public service working with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, and was on the Legal Aid board of directors in 2004. Currently, she is on the Policy Development Work Group representing Toronto, Central East for the Ontario Public School Board Association, where she was previously a vice president on the executive council. In her TDSB bio, Laskin writes that she is proud of her work on the board’s Multi-Year Strategic Plan which aims to address equity in student access to opportunities and the wellbeing of staff and students. She also points to her work advocating for regulation changes for the Board to receive Education Development Charges (EDCs) in a contributed 2018 election profile. Laskin’s priorities for the current election include equity in the TDSB’s Pandemic Recovery Plan, improving allocation of funding to remove barriers for traditionally underserved students, increasing climate crisis and anti-hate education, and increasing education workers and staff. She also wants to ensure effective school infrastructure planning, more community and parent engagement, and a systematic review of policies.

Dewitt Lee was previously a Liberal MPP nominee for Scarborough- Rouge River. He also previously ran in the 2010 and 2014 mayoral elections placing twelfth out of forty candidates and twentieth out of seventy-five candidates respectively. He is also the founder of Emancipation Month, a Toronto-based not-for-profit and awareness campaign that aims to improve the circumstances faced by those of African descent and those who have been affected by colonialism. While he doesn’t have detailed information about his trustee campaign available, Lee shares that he wants to ensure every student has a quality education experience and gets to and from school safely.

John Vassal previously ran for TDSB trustee for Ward 8 in the 2010, 2014, and 2018 municipal elections, having placed second out of three candidates, fifth out of five candidates and fifth out of seven candidates respectively. He is a self-described political and social activist. During his candidacy in the 2014 election, Vassal reportedly signed the Students First Pledge, an integrity pledge made by candidates following a string of controversies within the TDSB, including conflicts between trustees and staff, and allegations of misspending and lack of transparency. He also wrote about inappropriate spending and conflicts of interest within the TDSB in 2015. During his 2018 trustee campaign, Vassal promised to stand up against all forms of hate and prejudice and tweeted his support for students who marched in support of the new sex ed curriculum. He also pledged to use his “full authority as trustee to stand up for and defend any educator who will teach sex ed” via another 2018 tweet.

Neel Venugopal is the Vice President of Kolt & Keller Williams Real Estate Associates and a registered real estate broker in Ontario. He describes himself as an avid volunteer for school events and a former coach for the North Toronto Soccer Club. Venugopal was also on the commercial committee of the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board from 2018 to 2020. His interests include improving student transportation and adding more physical education and newer technologies to curriculums. He also says schools lack basic amenities for lunches, which he wants to change.

According to his website, Gianfranco Cristiano is an active community member with over 22 years of customer service experience. He previously ran for Ward 5 TCDSB trustee in 2018, placing second out of five. As part of his campaign, Cristiano wants to preserve international languages programs, address the lack of school bus drivers, and create a program to address poor Maths and English Testing results. He also says he will advocate for smaller classrooms, increase teachers and staff, and fight for funding for outdoor play spaces and special education. Cristiano has been endorsed by the Toronto & York Region Labour Council.

Phil Hornak has previously participated in the parent council for Loretto Abbey Secondary School, and has authored a letter that criticized of a number of issues within the TCDSB, including the board’s communication with parents, trustees’ conduct on social media, and what he claimed was a lack of accountability and integrity standards around trustee conduct, though he did not list any specific examples. In 2018, Hornak ran for TCDSB trustee in Ward 6, placing third out of three candidates.

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

Maria Rizzo has been the TCDSB trustee for Ward 5, first elected in 2003. She was elected as a North York Board of Education trustee in 1982 and a North York city councillor in 1991, serving two terms. At different times during her tenure as trustee, she served as chair and vice-chair of the Toronto Catholic District School Board. In 2011, as chair, she helped propel the board’s Equity and Inclusion Education policy and in 2019, she was a vocal supporter of a motion to include the terms ‘gender identity’ and ‘gender expression’ in the board’s code of conduct.

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.