James Pasternak ( ; born February 15, 1959) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician who represents Ward 6 York Centre on the

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 ...

. Pasternak has served on council since he was elected in 2010, representing Ward 10 (later amalgamated into Ward 6). He was a

Toronto District School Board The Toronto District School Board (TDSB), formerly known as English-language Public District School Board No. 12 prior to 1999, is the English-language public-secular school board for Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The minority public-secular franco ...

trustee before his election to council.

Background

Pasternak is a graduate of

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

. He also has degrees from the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

and the

London School of Economics and Political Science , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

Political career

Pasternak was elected to

in the 2010 city council election to succeed Mike Feldman in Ward 10."Changed council faces new mayor"
''

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 ...

'', October 25, 2010. He was previously a

trustee.

Israel apartheid debate

In 2012, Pasternak introduced a motion that asked City Manager

Joe Pennachetti Joseph Peter James Pennachetti is Canadian public servant who served as the city manager for the City of Toronto from 2008 to 2015. He is presently the chair of the Ontario Clean Water Agency (OCWA) board of directors. Pennachetti is a senior ...

to update Toronto's anti-discrimination policy and to determine whether including QAIA in Pride events violated the policy. Pasternak believes "QuAIA is not there to support the Palestinian people; it’s there to bully and demonize Israel, its supporters and the Jewish community." The following year, in 2013, Pasternak continued to lead the effort to defund Toronto Pride over the use of the term Israel apartheid by its participating members.Council delays report on 'Israeli apartheid'
March 19, 2013, Xtra

Election results

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pasternak, James 1959 births Jewish Canadian politicians Living people Toronto District School Board trustees Toronto city councillors Alumni of the London School of Economics University of Western Ontario alumni York University alumni