TORONTO’S2018MUNICIPALELECTIONWASONEFORTHERECORDBOOKS,ANDTHEREPERCUSSIONS will likely be felt for decades. Shortly before the campaigning was set to begin – in July – the Province of Ontario introduced a bill to align municipal ward boundaries with federal and provincial electoral ridings, creating 25 wards instead of the 47 that City Council had voted on in 2016. The election proceeded with the 25-ward model, and on October 22 Toron- tonians woke up to a much smaller City Council. This marked a stark change for the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). When Metropolitan Toronto was created in 1954, Torontonians had about one elected representative for every 37,355 residents. In 1998, with amalgamation, the ratio was 1:42,596. Under the new, 25-ward system, Toronto averages one representative for every 109,262 residents, and councillors will be responsible for areas that range in population from 94,579 residents (in Ward 16 Don Valley East) to as many as 129,081 residents (in Ward 3 Etobicoke Lakeshore). This sets Toronto apart from the country’s other large urban centres. By way of comparison, Montreal elects 43 council- lors who each represent about 37,000 people; Vancouver’s 10 councillors each repre- sent an average of 63,000 constituents; and Calgary has about one councillor per 86,000 residents. ASCRAMBLE Themostimmediateeffectoftheprovince’sdecisiontoreduce the number of ridings was a scramble for remaining seats, not unlike a children’s game of musical chairs. Of the 47 incum- bents, seven (Justin Di Ciano, Janet Davis, Jim Hart, David Shiner, Mary-Margaret McMahon, Migan Megardichian and Jonathan Tsao) had already chosen not to run for re-election. Another three (Glenn De Baeremaeker, Sarah Doucette and Cesar Palacio) withdrew their candidacy to avoid competing against other incumbents when their wards were combined. Nonetheless, numerous incumbents did end up running against each another: Michael Ford, the nephew of the current premier, defeated Vincent Crisanti in Ward 1 Etobi- coke North; Stephen Holyday defeated incumbent John Campbell in Ward 2 Etobicoke Centre; long-time councillor Frances Nunziata beat Frank Di Giorgio in Ward 5 York South- Weston; James Pasternak defeated fellow incumbent Maria Augimeri in Ward 6 York Centre; Anthony Perruzza pulled off an easy victory over long- time councillor Giorgio Mammoliti in Ward 7 Humber River-Black Creek; Mike Colle defeated Christin Carmichael Greb in Ward 8 Eglinton-Lawrence; Josh Matlow defeated Joe Mihevc in Ward 12 Toronto-St. Paul’s; the leftist Kristyn Inthewake oftheelection How will a reduced City Council affect the GTA? TORONTO ELECTION 2018 BY SARAH B. HOOD 16 | Builders' Digest Quarter 3 2018