Scarborough-Rouge Park to pick next councillor in Sept. 29 byelection
City of Toronto announces nominations for Ward 25 byelection open June 23, close Aug. 15
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Voters in Scarborough-Rouge Park will choose their next city councillor in a byelection on Sept. 29, which falls on a Monday.
The City of Toronto announced Wednesday that nominations for the byelection open June 23 and close Aug. 15.
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Advance voting will take place Sept. 20 and 21 and it’s anticipated mail-in voting will be available, so long as Canada Post’s labour issues don’t interfere, the city said in a news release.
The city has set up a web page with details for voters and candidates.
City council voted 19-1 at this month’s meeting to hold a byelection to fill the spot left by Jennifer McKelvie, who is now a Liberal MP representing the Ajax riding.
While council could’ve opted to fill the vacancy with an appointment to council, Mayor Olivia Chow said it would be “difficult” to ask that of Torontonians in Ward 25 with roughly a year and a half to go before the next municipal election.
“I’m recommending we decide to hold the byelection because I think it’s important to respect local democracy and let the residents of Scarborough-Rouge Park decide who will represent them at City Hall,” Chow said at the council meeting.
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The byelection comes at a cost of $550,000, according to a city report.
It hasn’t even been a year since the last municipal byelection. In November 2024, Rachel Chernos Lin was elected to represent Ward 15 (Don Valley West).
Chow was the winner of this term’s most significant byelection, the special mayoral vote held in June 2023.
Chow formally thanked McKelvie at the council meeting for her “many years of service,” adding “she stepped in and did an enormous amount of work” this council term as Toronto’s temporary mayor after the sudden resignation of John Tory.
While nominations don’t open for nearly a month, one potential candidate has already surfaced. Parthi Kandavel, the councillor for Scarborough Southwest, declared a conflict of interest before council’s byelection vote as his wife, Anu Sriskandarajah, is considering a run for the vacant seat.
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