Joe Cressy

Joseph Cressy (born July 10, 1984)[2] is a former Canadian politician and activist who served on the Toronto City Council from 2014 to 2022. Cressy represented Ward 10 Spadina—Fort York, and was the chair of the Toronto Board of Health. He resigned from city council, effective April 30, 2022, to accept an appointment as senior vice president for external relations, communications and real estate development at George Brown College.[3]

Joe Cressy
Cressy in 2014
Toronto City Councillor
for Ward 10 Spadina—Fort York
In office
December 1, 2018 – April 30, 2022
Preceded byWard created
Succeeded byJoe Mihevc
Chair of the Toronto Board of Health
In office
January 30, 2019 – April 30, 2022
Preceded byJoe Mihevc
Succeeded byJoe Mihevc
Toronto City Councillor
for Ward 20 Trinity—Spadina
In office
December 1, 2014 – December 1, 2018
Preceded byCeta Ramkhalawansingh
Succeeded byWard dissolved
Personal details
Born (1984-07-10) July 10, 1984
Toronto, Ontario
NationalityCanadian
Political partyNonpartisan (municipal)
Other political
affiliations		New Democratic (federal)
Spouse(s)
Nina Gorka
​
​
(m. 2013; div. 2016)​
[1]
Grace O'Connell
​
(m. 2018)​
[1]
Parent(s)Gordon Cressy
Joanne Campbell
Residence(s)Toronto, Ontario
Websitewww.joecressy.com

Career

Activism

Cressy has worked on various social justice issues, which traces back to high school when he spent a year in South Africa.[4] Upon returning to high school in Toronto, he got involved in the anti-Iraq war movement[5] and has since worked on anti-poverty campaigns in South Africa, literacy programs with First Nations communities in Northern Ontario, and worked with The Stop Community Food Centre.

Cressy also supports LGBTQ issues,[6] volunteering for an LGBTQ organization while studying abroad in Accra and supporting the New Democratic Party's (NDP) call for a visa ban against legislators who passed anti-gay laws in Russia.

Federal politics
Cressy canvassing with NDP leader Thomas Mulcair (top) and campaign signs on Spadina Avenue (bottom)

Cressy ran for the New Democratic Party (NDP) in a by-election seeking to represent Trinity—Spadina in the House of Commons following former NDP member of Parliament (MP) Olivia Chow's resignation to run for mayor of Toronto in the 2014 mayoral election. Cressy placed second, following winner Adam Vaughan who previously represented Ward 20 on Toronto City Council.[7]

Toronto City Council

Following his defeat federally, Cressy ran and was elected in the 2014 municipal election in Ward 20 Trinity—Spadina, succeeding Ceta Ramkhalawansingh, who was appointed interim councillor following Vaughan's resignation to run for MP.[7][8]

As councillor, Cressy has sat on the Toronto Board of Health (serving as chair), the board of directors for Toronto Community Housing, the Parks and Environment Committee and the sub-committee on Climate Change and Adaptation.

Cressy ran again in the 2018 municipal election in the newly formed Ward 10 Spadina—Fort York, which his old ward was amalgamated into. He was re-elected by one of the widest victory margins of any councillor in the city with 55.06 per cent of the vote.[9]

Cressy has announced he intends to retire from electoral politics and will not stand in the 2022 Toronto municipal election.[10]

Personal life

Cressy is the son of former Toronto city councillors Gordon Cressy and Joanne Campbell.[11] His birth in 1984 made Campbell the first woman in Toronto City Council history to give birth to a child while serving as a councillor.[12]

He studied public affairs and policy management at Carleton University. Prior to his entry into electoral politics, he worked for the Stephen Lewis Foundation and the Polaris Institute,[13] and was campaign manager for Mike Layton's (son of former federal NDP leader Jack Layton) successful campaign for a city council seat in the 2010 municipal election and NDP MP Olivia Chow's re-election campaign in the 2011 federal election.[11] He was also initially involved in Chow's mayoral campaign in 2014, but withdrew when he decided to run in the Trinity—Spadina by-election.[13]

Election results
2018 Toronto municipal election, Ward 10 Spadina—Fort York
Candidate Votes Vote share
Joe Cressy 15,903 55.06%
April Engelberg 3,346 11.58%
Kevin Vuong 3,018 10.45%
Sabrina Zuniga 1,564 5.41%
John Nguyen 1,032 3.57%
Karlene Nation 860 2.98%
Rick Myers 747 2.59%
Dean Maher 611 2.12%
Al Carbone 519 1.8%
Andrew Massey 473 1.64%
Michael Barcelos 451 1.56%
Edris Zalmai 147 0.51%
Andrei Zodian 133 0.46%
Ahdam Dour 80 0.28%
Total 28,884
100%
Source: City of Toronto[14]
2014 Toronto election, Ward 20
Candidate Votes  %
Joe Cressy12,46641.96
Terri Chu3,69312.43
Sarah Thomson2,8089.45
Mike Yen1,4314.81
Philip Morrison1,4074.73
Anshul Kapoor1,0633.57
Charles MacDonald9723.27
Albert Koehl8532.87
Tonny Louie7402.49
Daryl Christoff7052.37
Mike Andreae5901.98
Sam Goldstein5191.74
Nick Wright3951.33
Stephanie Carty-Kegel3761.26
Sam Novak3761.26
Garaham Hollings3071.03
Stella Kargiannakis2860.96
Leanne Hicks2120.71
Susan Tsai1940.65
Michael Monaghan1280.43
Kat Shermack1020.34
Akeem Fasasi860.28
Total29,709100

Unofficial results as of October 27, 2014 10:05 PM[15]

Canadian federal by-election, June 30, 2014: Trinity—Spadina
Resignation of Olivia Chow
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalAdam Vaughan18,54753.66+30.27
New DemocraticJoe Cressy11,80234.14−20.37
ConservativeBenjamin Sharma2,0225.85−10.96
GreenCamille Labchuk1,8805.43+1.05
Christian HeritageLinda Groce-Gibbons1740.50– 
IndependentJohn "The Engineer" Turmel1410.41– 
Total valid votes/expense limit 34,566 100.00 – 
Total rejected ballots 111 0.32 −0.12
Turnout 34,677 31.78 −37.02
Eligible voters 110,252
Liberal gain from New Democratic Swing +25.32
By-election due to the resignation of Olivia Chow to run in the 2014 Toronto mayoral election.
Source: Elections Canada[16]


References
  1. "Transcript: Joe Cressy: Confronting My Panic Attacks". TVO, January 11, 2019.
  2. "Meet Joe Cressy: Door-knocking in Trinity Spadina and loving it". iPolitics, April 15, 2014.
  3. Rider, David (5 April 2022). "Toronto councillor Joe Cressy leaving city hall for job at George Brown College". The Toronto Star.
  4. "Joe Cressy on Nelson Mandela and Inspiration". "Now Toronto", December 12, 2013.
  5. "Protesters in Canada express anger at Bush, Iraq War". "Jamaica Observer", December 1, 2004.
  6. "Former Chow staffer seeks NDP nomination in Trinity-Spadina". "Daily Xtra", March 21, 2014.
  7. "Joe Cressy wins second time in Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina". Toronto Star, October 27, 2014.
  8. Apr 15, Laura Beaulne-Stuebing Published on; 2014 3:38pm (2014-04-15). "Meet Joe Cressy: Door-knocking in Trinity Spadina and loving it". iPolitics. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
  9. Sara Mojtehedzade (2018-10-22). "Joe Cressy wins by a landslide". Toronto Star. Joe Cressy has vowed to fight for the city's "most vulnerable" after a sweeping win in Spadina-Fort York.
  10. "The man who won't be mayor: Why one of Toronto's youngest and most effective political leaders is calling it quits". Toronto Star. October 24, 2021. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
  11. "NDP turns to young activist with deep Chow roots in Trinity-Spadina". Toronto Star, March 17, 2014.
  12. "City Hall Notebook". The Globe and Mail, July 23, 1984.
  13. "Meet Joe Cressy: The man who seeks to replace Olivia Chow in Ottawa". Yahoo! News Canada, April 2, 2014.
  14. "Declaration of Results" (PDF). Toronto City Clerk's Office. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 25, 2018.
  15. City of Toronto elections page
  16. "Elections Canada". Elections Canada. October 3, 2014. Retrieved October 12, 2014.
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