Alejandra Bravo (born 1971) is a Canadian politician who was elected to represent

Ward 9 Davenport Ward 9 Davenport is a municipal electoral division in Toronto, Ontario that has been represented in the Toronto City Council since the 2018 municipal election. It was last contested in 2022, with Alejandra Bravo being elected councillor. His ...

Toronto City Council Toronto City Council is the governing body of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario. Meeting at Toronto City Hall, it comprises 25 city councillors and the mayor of Toronto. The current term began on November 15, 2022. Structure The cur ...

following the 2022 municipal election.

Early life and education

Bravo was born in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

in 1971. She lived in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

until 1973, when a coup d’etat forced her family to Canada. She earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

Latin American studies Latin American studies (LAS) is an academic and research field associated with the study of Latin America. The interdisciplinary study is a subfield of area studies, and can be composed of numerous disciplines such as economics, sociology, history ...

from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

, before attending the

Ontario Institute for Studies in Education The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (OISE/UT) is Canada's only all-graduate institute of teaching, learning and research, located in Toronto, Ontario. It is located directly above the St. George subway sta ...

Career

Prior to her election to council, Bravo worked as manager of leadership and learning for the Maytree Foundation, and as director of leadership and training at the

Broadbent Institute Broadbent Institute is a Canadian progressive and social democratic think tank founded by Ed Broadbent. History Broadbent Institute is a Canadian progressive and social democratic think tank. It was founded by Ed Broadbent, the leader of the ...

Political career

Early campaigns

Bravo has run in the former Ward 17 Davenport in the

2003 Toronto municipal election The 2003 Toronto municipal election was held on 10 November 2003, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to elect the Mayor of Toronto, 44 city councillors, and school board trustees. David Miller was elected mayor (Results of 2003 Toronto election). M ...

, the

2006 Toronto municipal election The 2006 Toronto municipal election took place on 13 November 2006 to elect a mayor and 44 city councillors in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In addition, school trustees were elected to the Toronto District School Board, Toronto Catholic District ...

and the

2014 Toronto municipal election The 2014 Toronto municipal election was held on October 27, 2014, to elect a mayor and 44 city councillors in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In addition, school trustees were elected to the Toronto District School Board, Toronto Catholic District Sch ...

, finishing in second place all three times behind

Cesar Palacio Cesar Palacio ( , ) is a Canadian politician. He was the Toronto city councillor for Ward 17 Davenport during the years 2003–2018. He was the first Hispanic person to be elected to Toronto's City Council. Biography Born in Ecuador he followed h ...

. She did not run in the

2010 Toronto municipal election The 2010 Toronto municipal election was held on October 25, 2010 to elect a mayor and 44 city councillors in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In addition, school trustees were elected to the Toronto District School Board, Toronto Catholic District Sch ...

, instead endorsing

Jonah Schein Jonah Schein (born ) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a New Democratic Party member in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the Toronto Davenport riding from 2011 to 2014. Prior to winning the 2011 provincial election, he was ...

as a challenger to Palacio. She ran as a

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

candidate in Davenport in the

2021 Canadian federal election The 2021 Canadian federal election was held on September 20, 2021, to elect members of the House of Commons to the 44th Canadian Parliament. The writs of election were issued by Governor General Mary Simon on August 15, 2021, when Prime Minist ...

, losing to

Julie Dzerowicz Juliana Roma "Julie" Dzerowicz () is a Canadian politician. A member of the Liberal Party of Canada, Liberal Party, she has represented the Toronto electoral district (Canada), riding of Davenport (electoral district), Davenport in the House of C ...

by a 76-vote margin so narrow that it was verified in a

judicial recount An election recount is a repeat tabulation of votes cast in an election that is used to determine the correctness of an initial count. Recounts will often take place if the initial vote tally during an election is extremely close. Election reco ...

2022 Toronto election

Ward 9 Councillor

Ana Bailão Ana Bailão (, ; born August 10, 1976) is a Canadian politician who served as the deputy mayor of Toronto representing Toronto and East York from 2017 to 2022. She has also represented Ward 9 Davenport on the Toronto City Council from 2010 until ...

announced that she would not be seeking re-election after serving on council for 12 years, leaving the seat in Davenport open for the 2022 election. Bravo joined the race on July 5, 2022, and ran on a platform which included ending

exclusionary zoning Exclusionary zoning is the use of zoning ordinances to exclude certain types of land uses from a given community, especially to regulate racial and economic diversity. In the United States, exclusionary zoning ordinances are standard in almost all ...

, building affordable housing, providing stronger tenant protections, improving transit and building more

cycling infrastructure Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by motorists are also cycling infrastructure, except whe ...

. She received endorsements from the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', the city's largest newspaper and Progress Toronto, a left-wing advocacy group. Following the election on October 24, Bravo won the ward with over 70 percent of the vote. She took office on November 15, 2022.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bravo, Alejandra Toronto city councillors Women municipal councillors in Canada 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians Women in Ontario politics New Democratic Party candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Living people Candidates in the 2021 Canadian federal election Chilean emigrants to Canada 1971 births