Kevin Rupasinghe waited at the front of the line, clipboard in hand, supporters in tow, eager to start his steep uphill climb toward the Oct. 24 election.
“I’m feeling excited, I’m feeling eager,” he said moments later Monday, after becoming one of the first council candidates to register at city hall, allowing him to raise and spend campaign funds.
City hall, mostly dead these past two pandemic years, was abuzz like the first day of school. Smartly dressed candidates clutched forms, signed them in front of city elections staff and emerged to pose for photos with the papers, family, friends and supporters.
Rupasinghe, a road safety and urban sustainability advocate, hopes to replace Coun. Gary Crawford, a 12-year council veteran who represents Ward 20 Scarborough Southwest.
Rupasinghe, an engineer with a focus on cities who is on leave from his job at advocacy group Cycle Toronto, knows Crawford has a higher profile in the ward. Also, road safety and climate concerns might not resonate in southeast Scarborough the same way they do downtown.
“It’s going to be uphill for sure,” the son of Sri Lankan immigrants said of his candidacy, adding that’s why he registered at the first possible minute for a vote almost six months in the future.
“I think things have changed, the city has changed, we’ve seen how to do (complete streets) projects much better, to make our streets work for everybody … We need a council that looks like the city and that understands the experiences of people in the city and shares those priorities.”
Crawford confirmed to the Star he plans to seek a fourth term and had this message for Rupasinghe. “I wish you the best of luck and thank you for putting your name forward to run for public office.”
At least two council races, Ward 10 Spadina—Fort York and Ward 13 Toronto Centre, have no incumbents due to councilor departures. incumbents registered for re-election include Paul Ainslie (Ward 24 Scarborough-Guildwood), Brad Bradford (Ward 19 Beaches-East York), Shelley Carroll (Ward 17 Don Valley North), Mike Colle (Ward 8 Eglinton Lawrence), and Gord Perks, who faces ex-journalist and former Tory staffer Siri Agrell in Ward 4 Parkdale-High Park.
Campaigning from a council seat has advantages, including exposure from continuing to perform duties in the community and the media coverage that garners, said Cameron Anderson, a Western University political scientist.
“Local councillors also have a built-in network of campaigners, or a support base, that challengers might not have, and the little things that come with the job in terms of attending events — it’s all to the advantage of incumbents and to the disadvantage of challengers,” he said in an interview.
Tony Luk, a Scarborough immigration consultant, is running for mayor.
“I know it’s a big challenge for me,” Luk said, adding he likes Tory but wants to show fellow Torontonians of Asian descent that not only can they vote, they can run for office.
Luk ran last year in the Ward 22 Scarborough-Agincourt by election, finishing fifth out of 27 candidates.
“If not this time,” he says of a winning office in Toronto, “then next time or the next time or the next time.”
After the early morning rush of candidates, Tory walked down from his second floor office, produced identification for the elections office staff and registered to seek a third term in hopes of becoming Toronto’s longest serving mayor.
Tory told reporters he will campaign on “strong experienced leadership to move the city forward, to make sure that we can recover (from the pandemic) as strongly as ever.” He said he has no plans to take a leave from regular mayoral duties to campaign.
“I’ll just continue doing the job.”
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