Mary Fragedakis ( ; born April 22, 1971) is a Canadian politician who served as the Toronto city councillor for Ward 29

Toronto—Danforth Toronto—Danforth (formerly Broadview—Greenwood) is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1979. It lies to the east of Downtown Toronto. Its best-known MP was ...

from 2010 to 2018. She was also the

Ontario Liberal Party The Ontario Liberal Party (OLP; french: Parti libéral de l'Ontario, PLO) is a political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. The party has been led by interim leader John Fraser since August 2022. The party espouses the principles of li ...

candidate for

in the 2022 provincial election. Fragedakis has been the executive director of the

GreekTown Greektown is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Greeks or people of Greek ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood. History The oldest Greek dominated neighborhood outside of Greece were probably the Fener in Ista ...

on the Danforth Business Improvement Area (BIA) since April 2019.

Early life and education

Fragedakis is the child of Greek immigrants, and spent her childhood in the Danforth community. She attended Wilkinson Public School, Earl Grey Senior Public School and

Riverdale Collegiate Institute Riverdale Collegiate Institute (Riverdale CI, RCI, or Riverdale) is a semestered high school located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada owned and operated by the Toronto Board of Education until its amalgamation in 1998 into the Toronto District School B ...

, before graduating from the

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

in 1996 with a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

(MA) in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

. Prior to her election, Fragedakis was involved for nine years with Open Dialogue, a conference and seminar organizing company and served as one of the founders of the Broadview Community Youth Group.

Political career

First term

Fragedakis was encouraged to run by former councillor and then-federal New Democratic Party (NDP) leader

Jack Layton John Gilbert Layton (July 18, 1950 – August 22, 2011) was a Canadian academic and politician who served as the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2003 to 2011 and leader of the Official Opposition in 2011. He previously sat on To ...

, and contested the 2010 municipal election in Ward 29 to succeed retiring councillor

Case Ootes Case Ootes (born 1941) is a former city councillor in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, for Ward 29 Toronto—Danforth. He represented one of the two Toronto—Danforth wards. He served as deputy mayor of the amalgamated City of Toronto under Mayor Mel ...

."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 pa ...

'', October 25, 2010. She defeated Ootes' preferred candidate,

Jane Pitfield Jane Pitfield, (born ) is a former Toronto city councillor, representing one of the two Don Valley West wards. She ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of Toronto in 2006. She is currently the warden of Pontiac Regional County Municipality, Quebec. Ba ...

, 41.8 per cent to 28 per cent."Rating the races"
''Now Magazine'', September 2–9

Second term

Fragedakis was re-elected as councillor for Ward 29 in the 2014 Toronto election with a significant plurality of over 60 per cent of the popular vote.

Toronto Transit Commission Board

The Toronto City Council appointed Fragedakis to 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 larges ...

(TTC) Board in late 2016. On the board she was a strong advocate for improving public transit. In 2017, she moved a motion to find the $1.2 million for the subway reliability program, which TTC CEO

Andy Byford Andy Byford (born 1965) is a British transport executive who has held several management-level positions in transport authorities around the world, such as the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authori ...

told council would help cut down on track-related subway delays by up to 30 per cent.“I think we owe it to subway users. I know they’ve put up with a lot of subway closures, they’ve put up with no air conditioning on subway cars, they’ve put up with trains too full to get on in the morning and other delays,” Mary Fragedakis. During the city's 2018 budget process, she called for more money for the TTC to address overcrowding.

Two-hour transfer policy

Along with

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

John Tory John Howard Tory (born May 28, 1954) is a Canadian politician who has served as the 65th and current mayor of Toronto since 2014. After a career as a lawyer, political strategist and businessman, Tory ran as a mayoral candidate in the 200 ...

and TTC Chair

Josh Colle Josh Colle () is a Canadian politician. He was the councillor for Ward 15 on Toronto City Council for the years 2010-2018.2018 municipal election, the Ward 29 was combined with the other Toronto—Danforth, Ward 30, forming the new Ward 14. Fragedakis ran again as councillor for the newly constituted ward, however, lost to Paula Fletcher who was the incumbent councillor for former Ward 30.

After council

In April 2019 Fragedakis became the Executive Director of the GreekTown on the Danforth BIA.

2022 Ontario election

Fragedakis announced in January 2022 she would seek the

nomination for

in the upcoming 2022 provincial election. She won the nomination on March 17. In the election, she lost coming in second to NDP incumbent

Peter Tabuns Peter Charles Tabuns (born October 3, 1951) is a Canadian politician who has served as the interim leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party and the leader of the Opposition since June 28, 2022. He is a member of the Legislative Assembly of O ...

Electoral history

Official results.City of Toronto elections page

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fragedakis, Mary 1971 births Canadian people of Greek descent Women municipal councillors in Canada Living people Toronto city councillors University of Toronto alumni Women in Ontario politics 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians