Stephen Holyday was re-elected councillor for Ward 2 Etobicoke Centre, and his priorities include finishing major infrastructure projects, improving public services and meeting with residents to learn more about issues before city council resumes.

Coun. Stephen Holyday won the councillor seat with 57.73% of the vote and will begin his next term on Nov. 15. He was councillor in Ward 3 Etobicoke Centre in 2014 before ward amalgamation and has been councillor of Ward 2 since 2018. In this year’s race, Katie Andrachuk was second with 27.59%, and Jennifer Alexander was third with 14.67%.

The Green Line reached out to Holyday to learn more about his priorities for the next four years. He shared his plans and promises in an email. Here’s what he had to say:

• Major infrastructure projects: Holyday says he will help coordinate several major infrastructure projects dealing with community impacts and communications with residents, including the Basement Flooding Protection Projects, a number of parks improvement projects and the Eglinton Crosstown West extension. “All of this work is leading to exciting new things, but the journey there requires significant attention, time and effort to optimize the conditions for local residents,” he said.

• Public services: He says he’ll continue to provide constituency services to deal with inquiries and requests for assistance from community members. He adds, “This will be very important through the fall as the City deals with seasonal concerns and preparation for winter.” He says he will continue to focus on high-quality public services.

• Post-election resident consultations: He says that, with the break in the council and committee meeting cycle during the election period, there is a backlog of upcoming decisions required. He adds that “many local matters considered at community council require attention and preparation by councillors, and this is a good time to tend to these issues and meet with affected residents ahead of the meetings.”

Here’s how Holyday responded to election pledges shared by local organizations and advocacy groups:

• Holyday didn’t respond to the Community-led Planning Pledge to fund community-led planning and center community voices. 
• He didn’t sign TTC Riders’ pledge to push for more reliable, affordable, accessible, frequent, fast, and safe public transit.
• He didn’t pledge to all the commitments under Cycle Toronto’s pledge to improve cycling infrastructure in the city.
• He didn’t respond to demands raised by Toronto ACORN to give RentSafeTO teeth, stand up to Ontario and tackle heat and affordability. You can check the details here.
• He didn’t sign the Toronto Environmental Alliance’s pledge to commit to voting for a maximum temperature bylaw, plant trees in hot neighbourhoods, cut single-use trash at big events, pause approvals for big AI data centres and cut emissions.

What priorities would you like The Green Line to track and report on in the coming year? Leave a comment on this page.