THE DEPARTURE OF George Smitherman from Toronto Centre’s provincial riding opened up the position, with the by-election taking place Feb. 4.
Liberal nominee Glen Murray, New Democrat Party nominee Cathy Crowe, Progressive Conservative nominee Pamela Taylor and Stefan Premdas for the Green Party are contesting the vacant seat.
Smitherman held the position for 10 years for the Liberals, serving as health minister, energy and infrastructure minister and deputy premier before resigning to take a shot at the Toronto mayoral race.
“One of the things George left behind was he empowered people,” Murray said, naming the Tamil community as one group who used the riding as a stage for their international conflicts.
“…George was a guy who was out there putting a platform in support of people so they could create change in their life, and I would like to try and continue that legacy,” he said.
The former mayor of Winnipeg is also a founding member of the Canadian AIDS Society. He has also worked for drug rehabilitation, which he said caused him to advocate for social housing.
“Recognizing through that process that if you don’t have a home you don’t have a life; it’s very hard to construct a family, to have a partner, to have a job and to have dignity and to feel safe in the world if you don’t have a home,” he said, reiterating his commitment to eradicate homelessness in Ontario by the end of this decade.
Cathy Crowe, NDP nominee and riding resident, is a community health nurse and has worked with the homeless and disadvantaged for 25 years.
She is a founding member of the Toronto Disaster Relief Committee, declaring that homelessness is a national disaster. She said it caused the governmen to pour about $1 billion into the cause.
One problem she said she would solve, if elected, would be recession relief.
“In the midst of a recession there has been no emergency relief fund,” Crowe said, or emergency aid that organizations can apply for.
PC nominee Pamela Taylor also brings an advocacy background to the election.
She had a pivotal role in the development of Peregrine Co-op Homes and is a long-time advocate for improving legal representation for low-income citizens.
“In 2007 I took it to the political world because I realized this was the place I could effect the greatest change,” Taylor said, listing the St. James Town Safety Committee, the Bleeker-Wellesley Activity Network and Vertical Watch as her current pursuits.
Stefan Premdas, an employment and job creation specialist, advocates for equality and diversity in the workplace.
