Voters cast their votes at the Parliament Street polling station in Toronto Monday, October 25, 2010.Darren Calabrese
A fresh face with a familiar name says he will be putting families first at Toronto City Hall.
Josh Colle, son of MPP Mike Colle, was elected city councillor in Ward 15 on Monday night, representing part of the Eglinton-Lawrence riding his father represents provincially.
He replaces recently retired Howard Moscoe, a 31-year council veteran.
The former Toronto Catholic School Board trustee's platform made families a priority.
"No one has actually just brought family issues to city hall in so long," said the freshly elected councillor at a loud and jubilant campaign party on Monday night. "So just by having someone being their advocate and their voice at city hall is a great start."
He said he was running in part because, being born and raised in Toronto, he wanted to make sure his three young boys and everyone else would have the same opportunities he has had.
Both of Mr. Colle's parents have been involved in community service to some degree - "My father, more high-profile with elected office; my mother, in the not-for-profit. I think in both those cases, it has helped a great deal to instill a sense of service for myself and my siblings, and the importance of giving back."
The City of Toronto's unofficial results show Mr. Colle with 6,668 votes, trumping runner-up Rob Davis's 5,399 votes. Mr. Davis, a Catholic school trustee, is a former York city councillor.
Mr. Colle, an executive in the energy and infrastructure industry, emphasized his business experience while campaigning in a ward concerned with changes in infrastructure. One of these is the revitalization of Lawrence Heights - approved by council in July - which, through tearing down the existing public housing, will see the neighbourhood rebuilt with mixed housing.
Mr. Colle wants the project to go ahead, but with lower density housing than has been proposed.
Another major project facing the ward is the Eglinton Crosstown LRT project, which Mr. Colle said he wants implemented as soon as possible, along with a rejuvenation of businesses in the area. The mostly underground light rail transit line is intended to replace the bus service along traffic-congested Eglinton Avenue.
Mr. Colle said his political endorsements show that he's the right person for the ward. "I've been endorsed by Mel Lastman and Howard Moscoe - a conservative and an NDP, and archrivals - in the same week. I don't think they have ever agreed on anything in about 30 years, so I take that as a compliment."
But while endorsements are nice, said Mr. Colle, "they don't affect how I would operate as a city councillor. My approach would be to be involved in the community, be much more present, to open a local community office, to have a councillor's advisory committee that met regularly across the ward, and to try to help open the doors to city hall."
He has proposed starting a "citizen's development task force" for the ward, to examine and shape developments in the earlier stages of planning.
Mr. Colle also said he's interested in term limits for city councillors and the mayor. "Incumbency has been too significant an advantage to overcome for new candidates" in Toronto, he said, noting that city hall is better with "a constant injection of new ideas and new blood."
Special to The Globe and Mail