Joe Cressy
| Joe Cressy | |
|---|---|
 Joe Cressy (left) with Pam McConnell | |
| Toronto City Councillor for Ward 20 (Trinity—Spadina) | |
|
Assumed office December 1, 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Ceta Ramkhalawansingh |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
July 10, 1984 Toronto, Ontario |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Political party | New Democratic Party |
| Parents |
Gordon Cressy Joanne Campbell |
| Residence | Toronto, Ontario |
Joseph "Joe" Cressy (born July 10, 1984)[1] is a Canadian politician, who was elected to Toronto City Council in the 2014 city council election to succeed interim councillor Ceta Ramkhalawansingh in Ward 20.[2] The ward was previously represented by Adam Vaughan, who defeated him in a 2014 by-election to the House of Commons of Canada for Trinity—Spadina.
He is the son of former Toronto city councillors Gordon Cressy and Joanne Campbell.[3] 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.[4]
Cressy has worked on various social-justice issues, which traces back to high school when he spent a year in South Africa.[5] Upon returning to high school in Toronto, he got involved in the anti-Iraq war movement[6] 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 at home and abroad,[7] volunteering for an LGBTQ organization while studying abroad in Accra and supporting the NDP’s call for a visa ban against legislators who passed anti-gay laws in Russia.
Cressy 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,[8] and was campaign manager for Mike Layton's successful campaign for a city council seat in the 2010 municipal election and Olivia Chow's reelection campaign in the 2011 federal election.[3] 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.[8]
In addition to being councillor for Ward 20 and Toronto's Youth Equity Advocate, he currently sits on the Toronto Board of Health, the board of directors for Toronto Community Housing, the council's Parks and Environment Committee and the sub-committee on Climate Change and Adaptation.
Election results
| 2014 Toronto election, Ward 20 | ||
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| Joe Cressy | 12,466 | 41.96 |
| Terri Chu | 3,693 | 12.43 |
| Sarah Thomson | 2,808 | 9.45 |
| Mike Yen | 1,431 | 4.81 |
| Philip Morrison | 1,407 | 4.73 |
| Anshul Kapoor | 1,063 | 3.57 |
| Charles MacDonald | 972 | 3.27 |
| Albert Koehl | 853 | 2.87 |
| Tonny Louie | 740 | 2.49 |
| Daryl Christoff | 705 | 2.37 |
| Mike Andreae | 590 | 1.98 |
| Sam Goldstein | 519 | 1.74 |
| Nick Wright | 395 | 1.33 |
| Stephanie Carty-Kegel | 376 | 1.26 |
| Sam Novak | 376 | 1.26 |
| Garaham Hollings | 307 | 1.03 |
| Stella Kargiannakis | 286 | 0.96 |
| Leanne Hicks | 212 | 0.71 |
| Susan Tsai | 194 | 0.65 |
| Michael Monaghan | 128 | 0.43 |
| Kat Shermack | 102 | 0.34 |
| Akeem Fasasi | 86 | 0.28 |
| Total | 29,709 | 100 |
Unofficial results as of October 27, 2014 10:05 PM[9]
| Canadian federal by-election, June 30, 2014: Trinity—Spadina Resignation of Olivia Chow | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ∆% | ||||
| Liberal | Adam Vaughan | 18,547 | 53.66 | +30.27 | ||||
| New Democratic | Joe Cressy | 11,802 | 34.14 | −20.37 | ||||
| Conservative | Benjamin Sharma | 2,022 | 5.85 | −10.96 | ||||
| Green | Camille Labchuk | 1,880 | 5.43 | +1.05 | ||||
| Christian Heritage | Linda Groce-Gibbons | 174 | 0.50 | – | ||||
| Independent | John "The Engineer" Turmel | 141 | 0.41 | – | ||||
| 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[10] | ||||||||
References
- ↑ "Meet Joe Cressy: Door-knocking in Trinity Spadina and loving it". iPolitics, April 15, 2014.
- ↑ "Joe Cressy wins second time in Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina". Toronto Star, October 27, 2014.
- 1 2 "NDP turns to young activist with deep Chow roots in Trinity-Spadina". Toronto Star, March 17, 2014.
- ↑ "City Hall Notebook". The Globe and Mail, July 23, 1984.
- ↑ "Joe Cressy on Nelson Mandela and Inspiration". "Now Toronto", December 12, 2013.
- ↑ "Protesters in Canada express anger at Bush, Iraq War". "Jamaica Observer", December 1, 2004.
- ↑ "Former Chow staffer seeks NDP nomination in Trinity-Spadina". "Daily Xtra", March 21, 2014.
- 1 2 "Meet Joe Cressy: The man who seeks to replace Olivia Chow in Ottawa". Yahoo! News Canada, April 2, 2014.
- ↑ City of Toronto elections page
- ↑ "Elections Canada". Elections Canada. October 3, 2014. Retrieved October 12, 2014.