Bill Saundercook was a

city councillor A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural council ...

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada for Ward 13 Parkdale-High Park. A teacher from a family of teachers, Saundercook holds a B.Ed., M.A. and M.Ed.

Background

Saundercook grew up in York. He came from a family of nine children. Before entering politics he taught school and coached a local hockey team.

Politics

Alderman, City of York

He was first elected as an alderman for the

City of York The City of York is a unitary authority area with city status in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. The district's main settlement is York, and it extends to the surrounding area including the town of Haxby and the villages of E ...

in 1985 defeating a 13-year incumbent. In the 1994 election he supported incumbent mayor

Fergy Brown James Fergus Brown (31 October 1923 – 3 April 2013) was a politician in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He served as Mayor of York from 1988 to 1994. Background Brown was born in Scotland, and moved to the neighbourhood of Mount Dennis in York, To ...

. When the election was won by

Frances Nunziata Frances Nunziata ( , ; born ) is a Canadian politician who has served as the speaker of Toronto City Council since December 1, 2010. Nunziata presently represents Ward 5 York South—Weston. She is the sister of former member of Parliament (MP ...

, he was clear in his opposition to her. He said, "I'll be damned if I want to carry her ... (Nunziata's) learning curve will have to be a slope that I couldn't ski." In 1996, he ran for the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

nomination in the provincial riding of

York South York South was an electoral district (or "riding") in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1904 to 1979. The riding is notable for the 1942 federal by-election in which newly elected Conservative leader Ar ...

. A by-election was being held to replace former premier

Bob Rae Robert Keith Rae (born August 2, 1948) is a Canadian diplomat and former politician who is the current Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations since 2020. He previously served as the 21st premier of Ontario from 1990 to 1995, leader of the ...

who had resigned subsequent to his defeat in 1995. While Saundercook had the backing of Metro Chairman

Alan Tonks Alan Tonks (born April 2, 1943) is a former Canadian politician. He was the Liberal MP for the federal riding of York South—Weston in Toronto from 2000 to 2011, and was the final Metro Toronto Chairman before the amalgamation of Metro Toronto i ...

he was criticized for backing a provincial Conservative candidate in the 1994 election. The nomination was won by

Gerard Kennedy Gerard Michael Kennedy (born July 24, 1960) is a Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as Ontario's minister of Education from 2003 to 2006, when he resigned to make an unsuccessful bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party of C ...

who went on to win the by-election.

Toronto City Council

When York was amalgamated with Toronto and four other suburban municipalities in 1997, Saundercook was elected to Toronto City Council in a ward shared with Nunziata, and defeated Ontario Liberal leadership candidate Gerard Kennedy. He was elected the first Chair of the York Community Council and member of the Strategic Policies and Priorities Committee. Saundercook was then elected by other councillors as the Chair of the Works Committee. On city council, he pioneered a number of important environmental initiatives. He introduced Toronto's biodegradable

compost Compost is a mixture of ingredients used as plant fertilizer and to improve soil's physical, chemical and biological properties. It is commonly prepared by decomposing plant, food waste, recycling organic materials and manure. The resulting m ...

bag policy which banned plastic bags from being used for curbside compost pickup. He also spearheaded the city's Sewer-Use By-Law, which was lauded by environmentalists as one of the most stringent in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. This redistricting prior to the 2000 municipal election placed Saundercook in a difficult position. His new ward was claimed by

, another popular fellow councillor and the former Mayor of York. Saundercook's home and core area of support fell into the new ward of Parkdale-High Park, also home to fellow councillor and future Mayor of Toronto David Miller. Saundercook was narrowly defeated in this election.

In between terms

A federal election also overlapped the 2000 municipal elections. Immediately following his municipal defeat, Saundercook took a core of his campaign team to assist his long-time friend and fellow Liberal

in his successful federal election campaign Saundercook returned to being a teacher after these elections, but remained active in the Liberal Party.

Toronto City Council, II

Miller launched a successful campaign for

Mayor of Toronto The mayor of Toronto is the head of Toronto City Council and chief executive officer of the municipal government. The mayor is elected alongside city council every four years on the fourth Monday of October; there are no term limits. While in ...

in the 2003 municipal election, leaving his council seat open. Saundercook was returned to city council after a close and fragmented race. On the 2003-2006 Council, Saundercook supported many of Mayor Miller's initiatives such as killing the bridge to the island airport, and banning pesticides. He also opposed a pay increase for city council, supported the hiring of more police officers and supported a contract extension for former Toronto Police Chief

Julian Fantino Julian Fantino, , ( it, Giuliano Fantino; born August 13, 1942) is a Canadian retired police official and former politician. He was the Conservative Party of Canada Member of the Parliament of Canada for the riding of Vaughan following a Novem ...

. He was Mayor Miller's designate on both the Toronto Hydro Board of Directors and the

Toronto Transit Commission The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the public transport agency that operates bus, subway, streetcar, and paratransit services in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, some of which run into the Peel Region and York Region. It is the oldest and largest ...

Re-election (2006)

On November 13, 2006, Saundercook was re-elected to Toronto City Council by a margin of 2000 votes over his opponent - Greg Hamara. Saundercook ran primarily on a platform of environmental activism balanced with his record of delivering community improvements.

Defeat (2010)

On October 25, 2010, Saundercook was defeated by

Sarah Doucette Sarah Doucette ( ) is a Canadian politician, who served on Toronto City Council from 2010 to 2018. In the 2010 city council election, Doucette defeated Bill Saundercook in Ward 13, Parkdale–High Park. Doucette was born in Winchester, Hampsh ...

Election results

Unofficial results as of October 26, 2010 03:55 am

References

External links

Former City Councillor Bill Saundercook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saundercook, Bill Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Toronto city councillors People from York, Toronto