Vowing to recapture the “magic” of cities, a former journalist and senior political adviser to both Kathleen Wynne and John Tory will run for council in Parkdale—High Park.
Siri Agrell, who is set to challenge incumbent Gord Perks for the Ward 4 seat, plans to register Monday morning on the first official day of Toronto’s municipal campaign.
“I’ve always worked in cities because I think they’re the most amazing level of government and can effect the most change,” said Agrell in an interview.
She said the last two years of the pandemic showed the public the importance of city services and pushed her to run.
“I think we’re at a moment in time where we need people to step up and offer a different type of leadership,” she said.
Agrell’s pending nomination comes as city hall is expecting several new faces, especially in downtown seats. The future of the progressive bloc is in question with left-leaning councilors Joe Cressy and Kristyn Wong-Tam not seeking re-election on Oct. 24.
Agrell said her experience as Tory’s director of strategic initiatives during his first term as mayor — working on policies like road tolls, Bloor Street bike lanes and the King Street transit pilot — gave her valuable insight into how to make those changes with support from council.
She rejected the idea of being a Tory-backed candidate during an election in which the mayor appears to have no well-known challenger and can instead focus on council races. She also said she would not be a safe vote for Tory if she was elected.
“The only people who pick who the councilors are are the voters,” Agrell said, adding that Tory would be the first to laugh at the suggestion she’d ever done anything just because he asked.
“I think he wants people in there who care about public service,” she said.
Asked if she would accept an endorsement from the mayor, she said it hasn’t been discussed but didn’t rule it out.
Before joining the mayor’s office in 2015 as one of its few progressive members during Tory’s first term, Agrell was the deputy director of communications for former premier Wynne under the Liberal government, and later worked as a private consultant, including for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the 519 Church Street Community Center. She was previously an urban affairs reporter for the Globe and Mail.
When it comes to big issues like affordable housing, Agrell said it’s not always easy to find common ground on council or in local neighbourhoods. But she said in her experience of her, it’s important to “manage” through those issues.
“I think that we have to make the case for these things and we have to show why it’s necessary and what we need to get there.”
She said her track record shows she can do that.
“Before the Bloor Street (cycling) pilot was introduced, it was a very yes/no proposition,” she said.
Introducing a pilot project, getting the biggest onside and making sure there was good data to show the test was a success were key to making it permanent, she said, despite concerns from some about traffic, parking and retail business.
But beyond the big issues, Agrell said she’d like to see Toronto get some sparkle back, looking to other cities that are celebrated for great outdoor spaces and more — “showing people that we can have nice things.”
Agrell said she wouldn’t align herself with any one camp of councilors if elected. “I am a progressive but I’m not a partisan.”
A resident of the ward for 10 years, Agrell said she would serve for a maximum of two four-year terms, adding that she believes in term limits for councilors (currently there are no such limits).
Perks, the de facto leader of the council’s left wing, was first elected in 2006 during David Miller’s administration and has been a vocal critic of Tory and his policies, as he was with Rob Ford before him — especially on taxes and raising city revenues. During his time on council, Perks has focused on housing issues, a drug strategy and environmental protection.
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