Crowded field vies for open council seat in Scarborough Southwest

Voters in south west Scarborough head to the polls in a week to pick a new city councillor, with a crowded field of candidates vying to replace the city's former budget chief. 

Residents of Scarborough Southwest, Ward 20 will select a replacement for former councillor Gary Crawford on Thursday. The byelection was called after Crawford stepped down in the fall to pursue a seat at Queen's Park in a byelection triggered by former MPP Mitzie Hunter's run for mayor of Toronto.

Twenty three candidates are seeking the city council seat, and you can check out the full list at the bottom of this story. With such a jammed race and a multitude of issues important to residents, a community group in Scarborough is trying to help voters get up to speed on the election.

Ron Parkinson, one of the founders of Scarborough United Neighourhoods, said the group has hosted four candidate forums since the byelection kicked off earlier this fall. It will host its fifth and final event Thursday night, ahead of advance polls over the weekend.

"We need people to vote because, guess what, politicians look at who's voting and if no one's voting in Scarborough, nothing gets done," he said. 

Parkinson said the non-partisan group formed in March to act as a link between neighourhood associations and community groups across the suburb. And the issues in the riding are as diverse as the people who live there, he said.

From housing to transit, to jobs and affordability, many people who live in the ward are struggling, he said.

"There's not just one issue," he said. "With inflation and COVID, people have lost their jobs. The food banks are busy, as you know. And in Scarborough Southwest, it's really affected everybody."

"We need more social services," he added. "They're cutting back all the time. And this is a time when [Scarborough needs] these services.... So our next counselor has got a bar that has to go pretty high." 

The founder of one of those food banks is a candidate in the race. Suman Roy started Feed Scarborough in his back yard during the pandemic. It now feeds more than 7,000 people a week, he said.

"Housing and food are the two basic human rights," he said. "And as a councillor, we need to actually make sure that everybody in our community has food to eat and a place to live. It is hard." 

Roy said that he's hearing from many residents who feel like they don't have a say at city hall. The former chef and current member of Toronto's Board of Health said the job is about accountability.

"People want to have a say," he said. "They feel that their elected officials, when they get to council, they forget who their real bosses are."

The runner-up in the race for the ward's council seat in 2022 is taking another shot at the job. Former Toronto District School Board trustee Parthi Kandaval said he and his team have been working hard to secure the support that helped him capture nearly 30 per cent of the vote last fall.