Former Leaside representative eyes return to council

Jane Pitfield, who represented the communities in Ward 26 for eight years before running an unsuccessful mayoral campaign against David Miller in 2006, is attempting a comeback this year.

On Wednesday, Jan. 6, she made it official, filing her nomination papers at Toronto City Hall to run in Ward 29 (Toronto-Danforth), the East York ward that will be left vacant when current councillor Case Ootes retires this year.

Pitfield has been away from Toronto City Hall since she failed to unseat Miller as mayor, and in so doing, had to give up her seat representing Ward 26 (Don Valley West).

“In the past three years, I’ve had the ability to watch from the outside, although I have had the opportunity to participate in a variety of projects and a lot of volunteer work, I remain committed to the City of Toronto,” said Pitfield in an interview from her home in Leaside.

“It is my great desire to return and serve the people of the city, but also participate in a very exciting time of developing Toronto into a greater potential.”

Pitfield’s decision to run again isn’t a new one. She told Toronto Community News that she’s been considering it for some time, the only question being where she would run. When she ran for mayor, she endorsed John Parker, the current Ward 26 councillor.

“It was my intent to wait and see. I was considering a number of wards as options,” she said.

When Ootes announced he would be stepping down after this term, Pitfield said her mind was made up.

When she was first elected in a byelection in 1998, she represented all of East York as one of three councillors at large, and she ran her campaign from Ward 29.

“I’m very pleased and feel very fortunate to have a chance to run in a part of the city that is familiar to me,” she said.

She also had high praise for Ootes.

“Case Ootes has been the most valuable member of council over all these years, certainly in the first two terms after amalgamation he held the city together,” she said. “He held council together. He has just in my opinion been a symbol of integrity.”

In a news conference, she said if elected she would renew her opposition to the demolition of part of the Gardiner Expressway.

– David Nickle

Veteran East York councillor won’t run for re-election this year

Case Ootes began his long farewell with his East York constituents this week, when he announced he won’t be a candidate in the municipal election this October.

“I’m officially announcing today that I’m not running for re-election after almost 22 years in office,” Ootes told a room full of reporters and cameras at Toronto City Hall Wednesday, Jan. 6, afternoon.

“I want to pursue some other pursuits, which I have not yet defined, but I do want to take the opportunity to thank the people of East York for re-electing me seven times. It’s been a great honour from a personal point of view to be able to serve the people.”

The Ward 29 (Toronto-Danforth) councillor has had a high profile on council since amalgamation in 1998. He served as deputy mayor to Mel Lastman for two terms, and during the David Miller years, emerged as one of the key leaders of Toronto’s right-wing opposition on council.

He told reporters that he’s stepping aside to spend more time travelling with his wife, and denied that his narrow victory in 2006 – he won by just 20 votes – had anything to do with his decision.

“That last race was one where it was taken for granted that I was a shoe-in, so the volunteers that you get when there’s a tight race didn’t materialize,” he said. “That wouldn’t have happened again.”

Ootes’ departure makes room for another high-profile city hall figure, former Ward 26 Councillor Jane Pitfield, to attempt a comeback after an unsuccessful bid to unseat David Miller in 2006.

Ootes said he would likely endorse Pitfield, along with an unspecified list of other councillors.

“I voted for her as mayor, and I probably will endorse her,” he said. “Jane’s a good candidate.”

Ootes had a few sharp words for the current administration at city hall – but overall, he said his 21 years in Toronto politics were a deeply rewarding time.

“It really is like no other job being a Toronto councillor, where you have the opportunity to take initiatives to benefit people and work with other councillors to make things happen,” he said.

“They don’t always happen the way you want them to, of course…I highly recommend it to anyone who has an interest in politics to run for public office. It can be very rewarding.”

As far as the upcoming election is concerned, Ootes urged residents to look closely at the candidates for both mayor and councillor.

“We’re going to have a different mayor and that will set a different tone, but I think it’s important to not only look at who’s running for mayor but also who’s running in a particular ward,” he said. “That’s the challenge we have, is people must recognize what a candidate stands for. You shouldn’t just be looking at whether he or she fixes potholes.”

– David Nickle