Mary Fragedakis

Mary Fragedakis (/ˌfræɡəˈdækɪs/ FRAG-ə-DAK-iss; born April 22, 1971)[1] is a Canadian politician who served as the Toronto city councillor for Ward 29 Toronto—Danforth from 2010 to 2018. She was also the Ontario Liberal Party candidate for Toronto—Danforth in the 2022 provincial election. Fragedakis has been the executive director of the GreekTown on the Danforth Business Improvement Area (BIA) since April 2019.

Mary Fragedakis
Mary Fragedakis
Toronto City Councillor
for Ward 29 Toronto—Danforth
In office
December 1, 2010 – December 1, 2018
Preceded byCase Ootes
Succeeded byWard dissolved
Personal details
Born (1971-04-22) April 22, 1971
Toronto, Ontario
Political partyOntario Liberal
Other political
affiliations		New Democratic (2003–2010)
EducationUniversity of Toronto (MA, 1996)
Websitemaryfragedakis.com

Early life and education

Fragedakis is the child of Greek immigrants, and spent her childhood in the Danforth community. She attended Wilkinson Public School, Earl Grey Senior Public School and Riverdale Collegiate Institute, before graduating from the University of Toronto in 1996 with a Master of Arts (MA) in political science.[2] Prior to her election, Fragedakis was involved for nine years with Open Dialogue, a conference and seminar organizing company and served as one of the founders of the Broadview Community Youth Group.

Political career

First term

Fragedakis was encouraged to run by former councillor and then-federal New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jack Layton, and contested the 2010 municipal election in Ward 29 to succeed retiring councillor Case Ootes.[3] She defeated Ootes' preferred candidate, Jane Pitfield, 41.8 per cent to 28 per cent.[4]

Second term

Fragedakis was re-elected as councillor for Ward 29 in the 2014 Toronto election with a significant plurality of over 60 per cent of the popular vote.[5]

Toronto Transit Commission Board

The Toronto City Council appointed Fragedakis to the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) Board in late 2016.[6] On the board she was a strong advocate for improving public transit. In 2017, she moved a motion to find the $1.2 million for the subway reliability program, which TTC CEO Andy Byford told council would help cut down on track-related subway delays by up to 30 per cent.“I think we owe it to subway users. I know they’ve put up with a lot of subway closures, they’ve put up with no air conditioning on subway cars, they’ve put up with trains too full to get on in the morning and other delays,” Mary Fragedakis.[7] During the city's 2018 budget process, she called for more money for the TTC to address overcrowding.[8]

Two-hour transfer policy

Along with Mayor John Tory and TTC Chair Josh Colle, Fragedakis advocated for the TTC's two-hour transfer policy.[9]

2018 election

In the 2018 municipal election, the Ward 29 was combined with the other Toronto—Danforth, Ward 30, forming the new Ward 14. Fragedakis ran again as councillor for the newly constituted ward, however, lost to Paula Fletcher who was the incumbent councillor for former Ward 30.[10]

After council

In April 2019 Fragedakis became the Executive Director of the GreekTown on the Danforth BIA.[11][12][13]

2022 Ontario election

Fragedakis announced in January 2022 she would seek the Ontario Liberal Party nomination for Toronto—Danforth in the upcoming 2022 provincial election.[14] She won the nomination on March 17.[15] In the election, she lost coming in second to NDP incumbent Peter Tabuns.[16]

Electoral history
2022 Ontario general election: Toronto—Danforth
Party Candidate Votes%±%
New DemocraticPeter Tabuns22,89055.39-8.86
LiberalMary Fragedakis9,24022.36+8.29
Progressive ConservativeColleen McCleery5,55613.44-2.42
GreenMarcelo Levy2,5136.08+1.70
New BlueMilton Kandias5151.25
Ontario PartyGeorge Simopoulos2320.56
None of the AboveChristopher Brophy2000.48
CommunistJennifer Moxon1790.43+0.10
Total valid votes 41,325
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots
Turnout 48.75
Eligible voters 84,769
New Democratic hold Swing -8.58
Source:Elections Ontario[17]
2018 Toronto municipal election, Ward 14 Toronto—Danforth
Candidate Votes Vote share
Paula Fletcher 16,468 42.27%
Mary Fragedakis 10,201 26.18%
Chris Budo 7,394 18.98%
Lanrick Bennett 1,935 4.97%
Dixon Chan 1,100 2.82%
Chris Marinakis 700 1.80%
Marisol D'Andrea 429 1.10%
Ryan Lindsay 413 1.06%
Lawrence Lychowyd 188 0.48%
Alexander Pena 131 0.34%
Total 38,958
100%
Source: City of Toronto[18]
2014 Toronto election, Ward 29
Candidate Votes  %
Mary Fragedakis11,90459.34%
Dave Andre4,95024.68%
John Papadakis2,0009.97%
Ricardo Francis5282.63%
Jimmy Vlachos4282.13%
Hank Martyn2491.24%
Total20,059100%
2010 Toronto election, Ward 29
Candidate Votes  %
Mary Fragedakis7,43041.81%
Jane Pitfield4,96627.94%
Jennifer Wood4,26924.02%
Chris Caldwell8854.98%
John Richardson1380.77%
Mike Restivo810.45%
Total17,769100%

Official results.[19]

References
  1. "City hall rookies 2010: Mary Fragedakis, Ward 29". Toronto Star, November 25, 2010
  2. "Councillor Mary Fragedakis - Council Members - Council Members | City of Toronto". Archived from the original on 2017-03-31. Retrieved 2013-11-14.
  3. "Changed council faces new mayor". Toronto Star, October 25, 2010.
  4. "Rating the races", Now Magazine, September 2–9
  5. "Mary Fragedakis wins Ward 29 Toronto-Danforth - Toronto | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved 2022-04-07.
  6. "Councillor Fragedakis joins TTC Board". www.ttc.ca. Retrieved Dec 20, 2020.
  7. "$80M TTC budget hike not quite at 'record' level". thestar.com. Feb 16, 2017. Retrieved Dec 20, 2020.
  8. "Toronto 2018 budget: council approves spending plan but nixes vehicle tax proposals | CBC News".
  9. Wilson, Codi (Nov 16, 2017). "Mayor, 2 city councillors push for time-based transfers on TTC for PRESTO users". CP24. Retrieved Dec 20, 2020.
  10. "Toronto election 2018: Ward 14 Toronto–Danforth - Toronto | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved 2022-04-07.
  11. "The Ford Fallout: "Being a councillor now is like watching from afar with fingers crossed"". Toronto Life. 2019-12-18. Retrieved 2020-12-01.
  12. "Danforth businesses warn of 'collapse' without rent programs in place for November". thestar.com. 2020-10-29. Retrieved 2020-12-01.
  13. Nickle, David (2020-05-19). "Businesses on Danforth approach reopening with caution". Toronto.com. Retrieved 2020-12-01.
  14. Nickle, David (2021-01-06). "UPDATE: Former councillor Mary Fragedakis seeks Toronto-Danforth Liberal nomination". The Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved 2022-04-07.
  15. "Liberals name Mary Fragedakis as candidate for provincial riding of Toronto-Danforth". Beach Metro Community News. 2021-03-18. Retrieved 2022-04-07.
  16. Star, Torstar Open Data Team | Toronto. "NDP Peter Tabuns is re-elected in Toronto—Danforth". Toronto. Retrieved 2022-06-03.
  17. "Candidates in: Toronto—Danforth (110)". Elections Ontario. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  18. "Declaration of Results" (PDF). Toronto City Clerk's Office. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 25, 2018.
  19. City of Toronto elections page Archived 2010-10-26 at the Wayback Machine
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