Denzil Minnan-Wong
Minnan-Wong in 2012
Deputy Mayor of Toronto
for North York[note 1]
In office
December 1, 2014 – November 15, 2022
Preceded byNorm Kelly
Succeeded byJennifer McKelvie (statutory)
Michael Colle (North York; 2023)
Toronto City Councillor
for Ward 16 Don Valley East
In office
December 1, 2018 – November 15, 2022
Preceded byWard created
Succeeded byJon Burnside
Toronto City Councillor
for Ward 34 Don Valley East
In office
December 1, 2000 – December 1, 2018
Preceded byWard created
Succeeded byWard dissolved
Toronto City Councillor
for Ward 11 Don Parkway
In office
January 1, 1998 – December 1, 2000
Preceded byWard created
Succeeded byWard dissolved
North York City Councillor
for Ward 12
In office
January 1, 1995 – December 1, 1997
Preceded byIncumbent
Succeeded byWard dissolved
Personal details
Born1963 or 1964 (age 59–60)
NationalityCanadian
SpouseColleen
Children3
Residence(s)Toronto, Ontario, Canada
OccupationLawyer
Denzil Minnan-Wong
Chinese黃旻南

Denzil Minnan-Wong (born c. 1963) is a former Canadian politician who was the statutory deputy mayor of Toronto from 2014 to 2022, representing North York. Minnan-Wong served on Toronto City Council from 1995 to 2022, representing a succession of wards in the Don Mills.

Background

Born in 1963,[1] Minnan-Wong is the son of Denzil Minnan-Wong, Sr. (a Chinese Canadian who became a prominent member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario) and Josephine Cazabon (born in Timmins, Ontario).[2][3] His father died in 1988 at age 53.

He was educated at Osgoode Hall Law School and became a lawyer specializing in immigration issues. He lives in Toronto with his wife Colleen and their three children.

Political career

In 1994 North York councillor Barry Burton died of cancer and the North York city council appointed Minnan-Wong as interim councillor for Ward 12. He was subsequently elected to the position in the November 1994 municipal election. In 1997 he was elected as one of two councillors representing Ward 11 – Don Parkway to the city council of the new amalgamated city of Toronto.[4] In July 2022 Minnan Wong announced he would not seek re-election in the October 2022 municipal election after 28 years in elected office.[5]

Garbage collection privatization

In 2011, he led an initiative to contract out garbage collection in Toronto west of Yonge Street in 2011 which projected savings of $12 million a year.[6] As of 2021, reports published by the City of Toronto state the privatized garbage collection west of Yonge was actually costing more than the city’s in-house garbage operations, at $143.48 per household per year as opposed to the city’s garbage collection services at $139.24 per household per year. Despite this, Minnan-Wong has continued to voice his support for privatization of garbage collection services and strenuously opposes returning these services to the city’s operation.[7]

Bike lanes

Although Minnan-Wong did not learn to ride a bicycle until the age of 46 in 2013, he supported the development of the first on street separated bike lane network in Toronto, resulting in the creation of the Sherbourne, Wellesley, Hoskin,[8] Richmond and Adelaide protected cycle tracks while voting for the removal of three painted bike lanes on Jarvis Street, Pharmacy Avenue and Birchmount Road.[1][9][10] The same year, he facilitated the move of the Bixi public bike share system to the operation of the Toronto Parking Authority.[11][12] Minnan-Wong was instrumental in reaffirming the $150 fine for parking in rush hour zones, a policy described by Mayor Rob Ford as "a cash grab."[13] Toronto was awarded Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) gold status from the Share the Road Cycling Coalition in April 2015, an award criticized by local cycling advocates.[14][15][16]

TTC board

He was appointed to the Toronto Transit Commission by City Council under the Mayor Rob Ford administration in December 2010.[17] He was one of 5 councillors on the TTC board who voted in 2012 to terminate the services of the TTC General Manager Gary Webster. Andy Byford was hired as Webster's replacement.[18] The five councillors who supported Webster's termination, including Minnan-Wong, were removed from the TTC board by council on March 5, 2012, as a result of a motion by Councillor Karen Stintz, chair of the TTC board.[19][20] On December 2, 2014, he was appointed again to the TTC board by city council after the election of Mayor John Tory with his tenure ending with the end of his term of office as a councillor on November 15, 2022.[21]

Ontario provincial 2018 election

On January 20, 2018 he was acclaimed as the candidate for the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario for the riding of Don Valley East for the 2018 provincial election.[22] He placed a close second to the Liberal incumbent, former cabinet minister Michael Coteau.[23]

During his run for the Don Valley East seat, Minnan-Wong stated that he would take an "unpaid" leave from Toronto City Council, remitting the salary he would have collected from the 30-day provincial campaign period to either the city or a charity. He ultimately donated his councillor salary for that period to the City of Toronto and directed the money be spent on roads.[24]

"Stick to knitting" controversy

In an interview published on August 30, 2017, in the Toronto Sun,[25] Minnan-Wong said in reference to outgoing chief planner of Toronto Jennifer Keesmaat that he wanted the planner to "stick to knitting". Although Minnan-Wong had previously also used the term to describe men he was accused of making a sexist comment by Keesmaat.[26] Minnan-Wong apologized for his words and said that they were taken out of context.[27]

2018 municipal election

After the 2018 Ontario general election Minnan-Wong ran for Toronto City Council in the 2018 municipal election in newly constituted Ward 16 Don Valley East, winning re-election.[28] Minnan-Wong was the only one of seven councillors on the TTC board to be re-elected.[29] He was re-appointed during the 2018 to 2022 council term as deputy mayor and was reappointed, a third time, as a member of the TTC board.[30]

Retires at 2022 municipal election

In July 2022, Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong emailed a statement to his constituents advising he would not seek re-election in the 2022 Ontario municipal elections. In the message, Minnan-Wong said he felt it was time to move on to "the next stage of my life".[31]

Election results

Provincial

2018 Ontario general election: Don Valley East
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalMichael Coteau13,01235.93−22.80
Progressive ConservativeDenzil Minnan-Wong11,98433.09+8.75
New DemocraticKhalid Ahmed9,93727.44+15.48
GreenMark Wong9172.53−0.83
LibertarianJustin Robinson2360.65–
FreedomWayne Simmons1310.36–
Total valid votes 36,21799.08
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 3370.92
Turnout 36,55455.22
Eligible voters 66,192
Liberal hold Swing −15.78
Source: Elections Ontario[32][33]

Municipal

2018 Toronto election, Ward 16[34]
Candidate Votes  %
Denzil Minnan-Wong11,12846.33%
David Caplan7,22730.3%
Stephen Ksiazek1,6987.07%
Dimitre Popov1,1044.06%
Pushpalatha Mathanalingam8883.7%
Michael Woulfe7713.21%
Aria Alavi5822.42%
Diane Gadoutsis5692.37%
Total23,967100%
2014 Toronto election, Ward 34[35]
Candidate Votes  %
Denzil Minnan-Wong9,76153.46%
Mary Hynes5,95332.13%
Douglas Owen1,1716.32%
Faisal Boodhwani7053.80%
Amer Karaman4862.62%
Alan Selby4532.44%
Total18,529100%
2010 Toronto election, Ward 34[36]
Candidate Votes  %
Denzil Minnan-Wong8,74353.42%
Peter Youngren6,48439.63%
Stephan Stewart1,1406.96%
Total16,367100%

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Minnan-Wong was also designated as the statutory deputy mayor.

Citations

  1. 1 2 Lu, Vanessa (June 15, 2009). "City hall's car guy learns to ride". Toronto Star.
  2. ↑ "Josephine "Jo" MINNAN-WONG Obituary - Scarborough, ON". Dignitymemorial.com. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  3. ↑ "JOSEPHINE "JO" MINNAN-WONG Obituary (2018) Toronto Star". Legacy.com. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  4. ↑ "1997 Toronto general election results". City of Toronto. 1997. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  5. ↑ "Don Valley East councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong says he won't seek re-election this fall". Cbc.ca. Retrieved 2022-07-17.
  6. ↑ "Toronto has saved $11.9M through private garbage December 16, 2013". CBC News.
  7. ↑ Rider, David (2021-11-08). "Private trash haulers were supposed to save Toronto taxpayers millions. Rubbish, suggests a new report". The Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved 2021-11-10.
  8. ↑ "City way behind on bike lane target". Nowtoronto.com. 29 December 2013. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  9. ↑ "New bike lanes on Richmond Adelaide". Toronto Sun. July 30, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Bikeway Network - 2011 Update". City of Toronto. July 12, 2011.
  11. ↑ Doolittle, Robyn (December 4, 2013). "Bixi bike-share program to pedal forward under a new name". Toronto Star.
  12. ↑ "Toronto unveils new separated bike lane on Sherbourne Street". Globe and Mail.
  13. ↑ "Rob Ford says new parking ticket fine hike a 'cash grab'". National Post. January 20, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Share the Road Announces Bicycle Friendly Community Awards April 2015" (PDF). Share the Road Cycling Coalition. April 1, 2015.
  15. ↑ Simcoe, Luke (April 5, 2015). "Bicycle award divides Toronto's cycling community". Metro Toronto. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
  16. ↑ Kolb, Jared (April 4, 2015). "People who ride bicycles in Toronto have hearts of gold". Cycle Toronto. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Fords picks named to police board". Toronto Star. December 8, 2010.
  18. ↑ O'Toole, Megan (February 21, 2012). "'Toadyism wins:' Councillors rage after TTC board sacks Toronto transit chief Gary Webster". National Post.
  19. ↑ "Mayor loses as TTC board restructured". Globe and Mail.
  20. ↑ "Eglinton LRT first up at new TTC board". Toronto Star. March 7, 2012.
  21. ↑ "Old guard of council's left". NOW Magazine.
  22. ↑ Fox, Chris (2018-01-20). "Deputy Mayor Denzil Minnan-Wong acclaimed as PC candidate for Don Valley East". CP24. Retrieved 2018-01-20.
  23. ↑ D'Andrea, Aaron (June 7, 2018). "Liberals' veteran Michael Coteau defeats city councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong in Don Valley East". Toronto Star. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
  24. ↑ Denzil, Vote (26 July 2018). "Donating the salary I made during my leave of absence. I directed the funds be spent on roads".
  25. ↑ "Councillors have goals for new planner". Toronto Sun. August 30, 2017.
  26. ↑ "Minnan-Wong discovers the perils of getting stuck in the knitting: Keenan - The Star". Thestar.com. 9 September 2017.
  27. ↑ "Minnan-Wong apologizes for saying Keesmaat 'should stick to the knitting'". Globe and Mail. September 8, 2017.
  28. ↑ "Denzil Minnan-Wong gets another term in Ward 16, Don Valley East". Thestar.com. 22 October 2018.
  29. ↑ "Toronto voters shake up TTC board as four members defeated". Msn.com. Archived from the original on 2018-12-03. Retrieved 2018-12-02.
  30. ↑ "Agenda Item History". App.toronto.ca.
  31. ↑ Lavoie, Joanna (July 13, 2022). "Long-time Toronto councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong not seeking re-election this fall". CTV News.
  32. ↑ "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  33. ↑ https://results.elections.on.ca/en/publications
  34. ↑ "Toronto election 2018: Ward 16 Don Valley East - Toronto - Globalnews.ca". globalnews.ca. 13 October 2018.
  35. ↑ "City of Toronto Election Results, Councillor: Ward 34". CBC News. October 27, 2014.
  36. ↑ "City of Toronto Election Results, Councillor: Ward 34". City of Toronto. October 26, 2010. Archived from the original on January 8, 2014. Retrieved February 25, 2014.
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