WEBSITE: www.votedhanani.ca/

EMAIL: info@votedhanani.ca

PHONE NUMBER: 416-222-8683

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What key issues define your campaign platform?
Transit and traffic safety, the quality of city services, how we finance our city, how we support business and the environment, improving our public spaces, and changing the culture at city hall are my six main priorities in this election. It has been decades since we had a significant investment in public transit, and we desperately need to get Toronto moving again. I will be heavily focused on restoring a responsive constituency office and improving dialogue with residents across the Ward. We need to make services more accessible, and enhance our public spaces and recreational facilities so that all families can enjoy the best our city has to offer. Finally, I want to help change the culture at city hall, by working with all colleagues-regardless of their political persuasion- to effectively represent my constituents and do what is in the best interest of Toronto’s future.

Why are you the best candidate for the position?
Ward 26 is one of the most diverse wards in the city, and we need a councilllor who not only understands the complex issues facing the community, but also one who can provide the highest level of advocacy and effectiveness to constituents with dramatically different needs. I am conversant in the Top 3 languages spoken in the ward, and have demonstrably improved community services here by building bridges over religious, ethnic, and racial divides. It is this sort of ecumenical vision that is needed in the Toronto of 2010, and I am the only candidate running who can bring different neighbourhoods together to improve conditions in our Ward. In terms of solving broader issues at the City level, my commitment to progressive environmental policies, fiscal responsibility, practical transit solutions to get the city moving, and improving the culture at City Hall make me the right person for the job.

What specifically do you plan to do for your ward, if elected?
My first priority will be to establish a responsive and staffed constituency office to serve the needs of the people in our community. Among other issues, I will work hard to: improve public spaces, access to services, and spur the revitalization of the priority neighbourhoods in Thorncliffe and Flemingdon Park, improve pedestrian and vehicular safety on Eglinton Avenue in Leaside, ensure that residents of Wynford/Concorde finally have a playground for their children, and only make decisions that take into account our critical need to protect the environment for future generations of Torontonians.

Personal bio:
Dhanani lived in Flemingdon Park and attended East York Collegiate. He earned a Bachelor of Commerce at Ryerson University and a Masters Degree in Public Health at Yale University.
An experienced management consultant at PriceWaterhouseCoopers and a business entrepreneur, Dhanani’s years of service in both the public and private sectors will make him an effective councillor at city hall. As a director of the Flemingdon Community Food Bank, he continues to be engaged in local community service.
Dhanani resides in Don Valley West with his wife Amna and three young children.

Who do you support for mayor?
I believe that for Toronto to work, councillors must be committed to working with any candidate who wins the mayor’s race. We are already hearing that some councillors won’t work with the current mayor, and others are refusing to work with some of the mayoral candidates. I believe this is the wrong approach. The City of Toronto is facing financial obstacles with a pressing need to dramatically improve infrastructure, and the next Council must work together, putting differences aside for the good of the city.