There was, however, some great debate and discussion during the race, in our debate at the Garrison, as well as the other debates in the ward. Karen Sun, who didn’t come with the family support, and Sean McCormick, who challenged from the right, as well as Jim Likourezos, Karlene Nation, Ted Footman, Ross Bruto, George Sawision all challenged for the seat on council. And some great arguments were heard, and hopefully Mike will take some of those to city council to keep a progressive movement alive in the city and to keep the Ossington area alive and growing.

We congratulate Mike on the victory, and wish him the best of success in the new position. As we’ve posted before, it’s important that he keep the local issues close at hand, and communicate with his constituents in a way that his predecessor failed in his waning years. In numerous discussions tonight with his supporters at his event, as well as in the other events, locals we talked to liked him but felt that it was important he become his own candidate at city council and move from campaign mode to community mode. We agree.

When we met Mike in person he was genuine, and very caring about the community. He wanted to listen and open channels with both people and businesses, so problems, especially those along Ossington, could be solved. He brings with him some experience in the foodservice industry, as well as an understanding of cultivating an entertainment and lively culture – something his father brought to the downtown core many years ago. These are the traits we hope he brings with him to council.

It was a good night in the ward despite many disagreeing with what happened in the mayoral race. We wandered along College visiting Ted Footman’s event at Bar Italia; Revival, where Joe Pantalone passed the family torch to Mike; and then to meet Karen Sun at Brass Taps, where her supporters congratulated her on a hard fought battle against a competitor with far greater resources. (then for some food at Lakeview!) We hoped to make it to Sean and Karlene’s events, but ran out of steam, but look forward to catching up.

Here are some pictures of the night:

So? When can we go to Salt Wine Bar, legally? Mike?

We’ve got some more people coming than mentioned on the first post. We also have Ted Footman, profiled yesterday, Karlene Nation, and Ross Bruto (no website) in the house, in addition to Jim Likourezos, Mike Layton, Karen Sun and Sean McCormick.

I attended the Friends of Trinity Bellwoods debate to learn how these things are done, and decided that we would allow the candidates longer to talk on various issues, hopefully getting more detailed answers.

We are going to start the evening off with a few words from the two Toronto District School Board candidates, Michael Sims and Chris Bolton, so everyone can learn a bit about the position, and each of the candidate’s platform.

Then we’re going to move to the main event where each candidate will have a two minute intro. We’ll be doing these in a random order. We’ll start with a question about the Ossington moratorium, and then move on to questions from the audience. We’ll be limiting the answers to 45 seconds.

Then we’ll have two minutes each for closing remarks, and hopefully enjoy a drink with the candidates after, where you can talk to them about the issues one on one.

We’re excited about this group of young and enthusiastic candidates who are going to change the ward for the better. Come out and hear what they have to say!

For this year’s city election in Ward 19 there is no incumbent. We have a great group of young and enthusiastic candidates looking to make a mark on Toronto. We’ve been profiling them in the past couple months, but now’s the time to bring them all together.

On October 5th we will host a debate at The Garrison, 1197 Dundas St West, west of Ossington, where we’ll discuss and debate the issues in Ward 19, and specifically in the Ossington area.

Come join us with Karen Sun, Mike Layton, Sean McCormick and Jim Likourzes and more candidates as we discuss the issues facing the neighbourhood.

Issues that come to mind are:

- The recent patio restrictions south of Bloor St,
- Salt Wine Bar being held closed due to moratorium restrictions,
- Balancing neighbourhood growth with local resident’s concerns,
- How to enforce current local bylaws. (or should they be enforced) and
- Ensuring local resident and business feedback into local issues.
- Building better transit for the neighbourhood

However, we don’t know what issues are of primary concern to you. So we’d like to invite our readers to comment below and tell us what you care about, and what you would like us to ask the candidates for City Council. You are all welcome to attend the debate (or let us know you’re coming on Facebook). Admission is free and it is open to the public.

We’ll be trying to live-blog the event and we may even get it up on UStream so if you miss it, or can’t be there, you’ll be kept up to date.

It looks like he’s just getting his campaign going and he doesn’t have much online, but here’s what we know now:

Joshua works as a business analyst for a wealth management software company and grew up on College Street where his parents owned and operated a restaurant. So he’s a local guy.
For high-school he went to Jarvis Collegiate and then took economics at the University of Toronto.
After spending some time in Pennsylvania as a consultant for Vanguard – a U.S investment and pension company – he returned to Canada and now lives close to Ossington on Strachan Ave.

He outlined in an email his first platform planks, clearly focussed on his specialty, economics:

• Closing the fiscal gap between spending and revenue.
• Raising property taxes annually by approximately 3 % (which essentially has happened over the last 4 years) is not a sustainable model.
• Moderate spending.  There are expenses that this city has taken on that aren’t immediate or necessary.

Joshua says:

“I believe in bringing people together and helping them understand both sides.”

“In terms of the ossington strip, I’m sure we can come to a better resolution than the status quo (which I’ve read, and experienced first hand) that both sides are not happy with.”

Amen to that!

Joshua promises to continue to expand his platform in the next little while, and we’ll keep you up to date.

A recent Toronto Star article has also mentioned a few other candidates who have thrown their hat in the ring including Jack Layton’s son, Mike Layton, bike shop owner Derek Chadbourne, Karen Sun, executive director of the Chinese Canadian National Council Toronto Chapter, local activist and repeat candidate Himy Syed, and recently profiled Jim Likourezos. We’ll try and have some profiles of the other candidates up soon.

Who’s up for a candidate’s debate in the Ossington Village?

His webpage says he’s for “responsible government”, which really doesn’t help us out much. (not that we don’t like responsible government, but give us some more!).

So, to help us get to know him he’s holding a couple of meet and greets in the area, although unfortunately none on Ossington… yet.

The first of his meetups is at Victory Cafe on Monday the 22nd at 7pm

The second meeting takes place at one of my faves, the Wheat Sheaf Tavern the next night at 7pm also.

I’m sure he’ll be heading and meeting up with us here on Ossington soon. Reposado, Sweaty Betty’s and The Painted Lady make for good meet-up locales, and the local business owners would love to find out more about him.