Jamaal Myers

Jamaal Myers is a Canadian lawyer and politician who was elected to represent Ward 23 Scarborough North on Toronto City Council following the 2022 municipal election.

Jamaal Myers
Toronto City Councillor
for Ward 23 Scarborough North
Assumed office
November 15, 2022
Preceded byCynthia Lai
Personal details
Occupation
  • Politician
  • lawyer

Background

Myers was born in Scarborough to Jamaican parents and raised in Toronto Community Housing.[1] He previously was employed at TD Bank and was promoted to senior legal counsel in 2020.[2]

He served as vice-chair of TAIBU Community Health Center and director of the Scarborough Business Association. Moreover, he was a volunteer with HousingNowTO and Scarborough Transit Action.[3][4]

Political career

Myers was elected to Toronto City Council during the 2022 Toronto municipal election, replacing the late incumbent Cynthia Lai who died days before the municipal election on October 21, 2022.[5] Due to her death, Lai's votes were not counted.[6]

Myers ran on a platform of affordable housing, easier access to healthcare, increased funding and more buses for the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) in wake of the Line 3 Scarborough closure, as well as maintaining the ActiveTO program.[7][4][8] He was endorsed by the Toronto Star, Toronto & York Region Labour Council, and Progress Toronto.[3][9][10]

Myers began his first term on council by releasing a statement alongside other councillors opposing the Better Municipal Governance Act, 2022, which is a controversial provincial legislation which would give the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa the power to pass local bylaws with only a third of city council’s support. [11]

Electoral history
2022 Toronto municipal election Unofficial results as of 11:56:30 PM Monday, October 24, 2022[12]
Candidate Votes %
Jamaal Myers 5,31551.09
Phillip Francis 2,75526.48
Virginia Jones 2,33322.43
Cynthia Lai[lower-alpha 1] 00

References
  1. "Jamaal Myers is running for City Council because "Toronto's in trouble'". The Caribbean Camera.
  2. "Jamaal Myers leverages his skillset to focus on ESG reporting matters at TD Bank". Canadian Lawyer Magazine.
  3. "Progress Toronto Progressive Champions". progresstoronto.ca. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  4. "Ward 23 — Scarborough North". thelocal.to. 15 September 2022. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  5. "Toronto councillor Cynthia Lai, running for re-election, dies". thestar.com. 2022-10-21. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  6. "'I'm going to work to earn their trust': Scarborough North has new councillor as Cynthia Lai supporters mourn". toronto.com. 2022-10-24. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  7. "I Believe in Scarborough". jamaal4scarbto.com. 2022-10-21. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  8. "Ward 23: Scarborough North". ttcriders.ca. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  9. "The Star's endorsements for Toronto Council in Wards 17 to 25". thestar.com. 2022-10-21. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  10. "2022 Municipal Election". labourcouncil.ca. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  11. "Five former Toronto mayors call on Tory to 'soundly' reject strong mayor legislation". CTV News Toronto.
  12. "2022 Municipal Election". City of Toronto. Retrieved 25 October 2022.

Notes
  1. Lai passed away on October 21, 2022. As the ballots were already printed prior to her death, she will still appear on the ballot, however will not get any votes.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.