The 2010 Toronto municipal election was held on October 25, 2010 to elect a mayor and 44 city councillors in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In addition, school trustees were elected to the Toronto District School Board, Toronto Catholic District School Board, Conseil scolaire de district du Centre-Sud-Ouest and Conseil scolaire de district catholique Centre-Sud. The election was held in conjunction with those held in other municipalities in the province of Ontario (see 2010 Ontario municipal elections). Candidate registration opened on January 4, 2010 and ended on September 10. Advance polls were open October 5, 6, 7, 8 and 12, 13, 16 and 17. There were a number of open seats as two sitting councillors, Rob Ford and Joe Pantalone, ran for mayor, while incumbents Case Ootes, Kyle Rae, Adam Giambrone, Michael Walker, Mike Feldman, Brian Ashton, and Howard Moscoe did not seek re-election. This was the first election to take place in Toronto since the enactment of a new fund raising by-law whereby unions and corporations could not donate to candidates. The nomination period for the 2010 municipal election opened on Monday, January 4, 2010 and closed on Friday, September 10, 2010. In the 2010 election, a record number of women was elected to council, with 15 female councillors comprising exactly one third of all council members. With this election, voting day moved to the fourth Monday of October from the second Monday of November which had been election day since 1978.

Mayor

The mayor's seat was open for the first time since the 2003 Toronto election, due to the announcement by incumbent mayor David Miller that he would not seek a third term in office. At the end of the campaign there were three major candidates who were included by the media in public opinion polls and mayoral debates: winner Rob Ford, Joe Pantalone, and George Smitherman. Four other candidates, Rocco Rossi, Sarah Thomson, Adam Giambrone and Giorgio Mammoliti, were considered major candidates when they launched their campaigns but later dropped out of the campaign.

City council

City councillors were elected to represent Toronto's 44 wards at Toronto City Council. There were a number of open seats, as sitting councillors Joe Pantalone and Rob Ford chose to run for mayor, while long-serving incumbents Case Ootes, Kyle Rae, Adam Giambrone, Mike Feldman, Michael Walker, Brian Ashton and Howard Moscoe announced their retirements. Five incumbent councillors were defeated, in wards 1, 13, 25, 32, and 35:. Vincent Crisanti beat Suzan Hall, Sarah Doucette beat Bill Saundercook, Jaye Robinson beat Cliff Jenkins, Mary-Margaret McMahon beat Sandra Bussin, and Michelle Berardinetti beat Adrian Heaps respectively.

School boards

School trustees were elected to the Toronto District School Board, Toronto Catholic District School Board, Conseil scolaire de district du Centre-Sud-Ouest and Conseil scolaire de district catholique Centre-Sud.

Participation initiatives

Continuing a tradition established by City Idol in 2006, grassroots activist groups established a number of initiatives to encourage greater interest and participation in municipal politics. One notable initiative in 2010 was Better Ballots, an advocacy group which sponsored a debate concerning municipal voting reform on June 1. Preparations for that debate included an online ballot to name two of the "minor" mayoral candidates to the debate panel, in addition to the six "major" ones. The winners of the online vote were Rocco Achampong and Keith Cole. When Giorgio Mammoliti withdrew from the mayoral race on July 5, he singled out Achampong as a candidate who "needs to be heard", and asked the media to give Achampong his former space in the debates. Another initiative was So You Think You Can Council, an event hosted by comedian Maggie Cassella which featured Ward 27's council candidates answering questions about Toronto's municipal government in a game show format.

Satire

The campaign was also noted for the creation of two mock campaigns which posted satirical comments on the election through social networking platforms. Murray4Mayor was spearheaded by National Post cartoonist Steve Murray, while The Rebel Mayor, which was eventually revealed as the creation of journalist Shawn Micallef, was written in the persona of 19th century Toronto mayor William Lyon Mackenzie.

Ward 9 York Centre and TDSB Ward 4 election irregularities

On March 29, 2011, a judge of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice invalidated the election results for Ward 9 and TDSB Ward 4 because of "several “irregularities” in the voters list". The civil lawsuit was brought forward by Gus Cusimano. He lost by 89 votes and was the runner-up. There were missing signatures of electoral officers on 426 of 1,143 forms that allowed election-day changes to the voter list. Initially the city's legal staff said they would be appealing the decision but on May 13 it was announced that the city would not launch an appeal. City Clerk, Uli Watkiss said in a statement, "The decision to proceed with a by-election and resolve this matter as quickly as possible is in the best interest of the public, the individuals directly affected, and the workings of Council." The mayor's office supported the decision. Rob Ford's press secretary Adrienne Batra said, "Obviously the mayor supported (Cusimano) during the general election and once the by-election gets under way he will be fully supporting him again." On May 16, Maria Augimeri announced that she would be appealing the decision herself. She said the by-election would cost $525,000. She said, "The clerk’s advice not to appeal does harm to taxpayers as well as to the integrity of our electoral system." On August 4, the city reversed its decision and decided to join the appeal which will be held in September 2011. On December 19, the court ruled in Augimeri's favour. A three judge panel ruled that although 300 ballots were unsigned by electoral officers the people voting were very likely eligible to vote and that this would have no effect on the election. In a related judgement, they also ruled that Cusimano incorrectly voted in the Ward 9 election because he lived in another riding. They decided that no further action was necessary.

Ward 1: Etobicoke North

Ward 2: Etobicoke North

The seat was open because incumbent Rob Ford ran for mayor.

Ward 3: Etobicoke Centre

Ward 4: Etobicoke Centre

Ward 5: Etobicoke—Lakeshore

Ward 6: Etobicoke—Lakeshore

Ward 7: York West

Ward 8: York West

Ward 9: York Centre

Ward 10: York Centre

Incumbent Mike Feldman did not run for re-election.

Ward 11: York South—Weston

Ward 12: York South—Weston

Ward 13: Parkdale—High Park

Ward 14: Parkdale—High Park

Ward 15: Eglinton—Lawrence

Long-time incumbent Howard Moscoe did not seek re-election.

Ward 16: Eglinton—Lawrence

Ward 17: Davenport

Ward 18: Davenport

Incumbent Adam Giambrone dropped out of the mayor's race on February 10 and subsequently announced he would not run for re-election in Ward 18.

Ward 19: Trinity—Spadina

Open seat as incumbent Joe Pantalone ran for mayor.

Ward 20: Trinity—Spadina

Ward 21: St. Paul's

Ward 22: St. Paul's

Incumbent Michael Walker did not run for re-election.

Ward 23: Willowdale

Ward 24: Willowdale

Ward 25 Don Valley West

Ward 26: Don Valley West

Ward 27: Toronto Centre

Veteran councillor Kyle Rae, who held a seat on council since 1991, announced that he would not be running for re-election.

Ward 28: Toronto Centre

Ward 29: Toronto—Danforth

Incumbent Case Ootes retired.

Ward 30: Toronto—Danforth

Ward 31: Beaches—East York

Ward 32: Beaches—East York

Ward 33: Don Valley East

Ward 34: Don Valley East

Ward 35: Scarborough Southwest

Ward 36: Scarborough Southwest

Incumbent Brian Ashton did not seek re-election.

Ward 37: Scarborough Centre

Ward 38: Scarborough Centre

Ward 39: Scarborough—Agincourt

Ward 40: Scarborough—Agincourt

Ward 41: Scarborough—Rouge River

Ward 42: Scarborough—Rouge River

Ward 43: Scarborough East

Ward 44: Scarborough East

Citations