Glenn De Baeremaeker, the Scarborough Centre city councillor who served as Mayor John Tory’s deputy mayor in charge of promoting the Line 2 Scarborough subway extension, won’t be seeking re-election.De Baeremaeker said in a news release Monday that he made the call after analyzing his re-election chances in the new 25-ward Toronto council.“I think I might have been able to pull it off — but at what cost to family, friends and supporters? A campaign is a gruelling, seven-day-a-week proposition. It’s a lot to ask of people when winning is a long shot,” De Baeremaeker said in the news release. “Rather than fighting against former colleagues, I decided it would be more positive to invest my energy in branching off in a new direction.”Read more:Toronto Star’s election coverageFord to slash city council in halfDe Baeremaker has served on council for the past 15 years, representing Ward 38 (Scarborough Centre) — a ward that includes the Scarborough Town Centre and Scarborough Civic Centre. If Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s legislation to reduce the size of Toronto council from 47 to 25 survives court challenges, then De Baeremaeker would be facing off against one of two veteran councillors: Michael Thompson (Ward 37, Scarborough Centre) or Paul Ainslie (Ward 43, Scarborough East).In a statement issued moments after De Baeremaeker’s announcement, Tory thanked De Baeremaeker for his work promoting the subway extension, Tory’s SmartTrack heavy rail transit plan and the Eglinton LRT.“Glenn has been a tireless defender of Scarborough and specifically building transit in Scarborough including SmartTrack, the Eglinton East LRT and the Scarborough subway extension,” Tory wrote. “Councillor De Baeremaeker has worked with me to ensure we are finally getting on with extending the Bloor-Danforth line to the Scarborough Town Centre as part of the city’s overall transit network plan.&# ...
|
