Brad Bradford

Brad Bradford is a Canadian urban planner and politician. He was elected to the Toronto City Council following the 2018 Toronto municipal election, and represents Ward 19 Beaches—East York.

Bradford was appointed a commissioner of the Toronto Transit Commission Board by city council on December 13, 2018. He also sits on several council committees, including the Budget Committee, and the Planning and Housing Committee, and the Toronto Parking Authority Board.

Background

Prior to his election, Bradford worked as an urban planner for the City of Toronto."Brad Bradford wins Ward 19, Beaches—East York, in close race"
''Toronto Star'', October 22, 2018. He holds a Bachelor of Environmental Studies (BES), in urban and regional environments from York University, and a Master of Arts (MA) in urban planning from the University of Waterloo.

Family

Bradford's mother, Valerie Bradford, was elected as the member of Parliament (MP) for Kitchener South—Hespeler in the 2021 federal election. He has one daughter, Briar, with his wife Kathryn.

Political career

During the 2018 municipal election campaign, Bradford received endorsements from Mayor John Tory, Deputy Mayor Ana Bailão, former Liberal member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Arthur Potts, Councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon (the previous incumbent of ward 32, which made up a part of the current ward boundaries), and former Toronto chief planner and mayoral candidate Jennifer Keesmaat.

Bradford defeated candidate Matthew Kellway, who represented Beaches—East York federally from 2011 to 2015 as the New Democratic MP.

Work on council

2019 budget

Bradford's first budget was contentious as councillors Shelley Carroll and Mike Layton presented last minute motions intended to gather information beyond the budget process. He voted against all of these motions which distressed concerned parties.

Term limits

Bradford brought a motion to the city council to explore implementing term limits, which was seconded by Ana Bailão and referred to the Special Committee on Governance. Bradford campaigned on supporting a two term limit during the 2018 election, with his motion citing examples where term limits facilitated a more representative council makeup by eliminating incumbent advantage. He was opposed by Councillor Gord Perks, who commented that the "last thing a government should do is tell people who they are allowed to vote for" and Councillor Jim Karygiannis, who believes if "constituents don’t want us they can kick us out".

The motion was deferred indefinitely, but if successful it would have required a '' City of Toronto Act'' amendment, which must be passed by the provincial government.

Hansard transcripts

Bradford also introduced a motion at council to explore the use of Hansard (transcripts of meetings) to increase transparency and engagement at City Hall.

Election results

References

External links

City of Toronto webpage

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradford, Brad
Canadian urban planners
Toronto city councillors
University of Waterloo alumni
York University alumni
Living people
Place of birth missing (living people)
1986 births