Julia Frankling –
City Council seat in the October election is shaping up to be a choice among prominent community advocates who all identify as progressive and share many priorities such as housing, affordability, safety, poverty reduction and public space.
Political tensions have already emerged between incumbent Ward 13 Councillor Chris Moise and challenger Curran Stikuts.
Moise recently told the bridge it was “bizarre” that the local New Democratic Party is encouraging “one of their own to run against the councillor who’s not only their ally but literally Mayor Olivia Chow’s #1 voting ally on City Council.”
Stikuts, a former director of the 519 Community Centre, denies this. “I am a member of the NDP, but at the municipal level there aren’t parties. The suggestion that I was encouraged by the riding association to run is simply not true. I was encouraged by people across Toronto Centre, across the city, and across the political spectrum who care deeply about this community and have felt let down by how residents and the issues that matter to them have been treated.”
“I think it’s healthy in a democracy for people, including progressives, to talk about what kind of leadership they want at City Hall. I encourage Councillor Moise to join that conversation by declaring his candidacy.”
Moise has not yet officially filed to run but confirmed to the bridge he plans to enter the race, likely in July.
Moise previously ran as an NDP candidate provincially and federally. He later worked closely with former mayor John Tory and endorsed Ana Bailao over Olivia Chow in the last mayoral election.
Moise defended his progressive credentials and relationship with the mayor. “In terms of voting, not even card-carrying NDP members of council have been aligned with Mayor Chow as much as I have. People who are progressive, centrist, left of centre, and right of centre often feel very comfortable with my approach to politics.”
Describing himself as a principled and practical progressive, Moise says experience is the determining factor in a race among candidates with shared priorities. “Unless their goal is to make City Hall hyperpartisan, the real differences are about the experience and the track record that each of us will bring to this role, which will directly determine our effectiveness at being the councillor.”
“I was an elected trustee at the TDSB for six years and have now been at City Hall for four years.”
Other candidates also emphasize their records in community advocacy and housing.
Nicki Ward, chief operations officer of Canada’s largest housing co-operative, and Moise’s top opponent in the last election, says her over 30 years of executive management experience of “getting stuff done,” sets her apart. “Our base has continued to grow,” she says, while “Chris’ ceiling is coming down.”
Curran Stikuts began his career in a housing co-op and has worked in the ward for the past 15 years in community housing, community space and advocacy. His priorities are “public space and how we connect with it; maintenance, and that people get the care and support that they need and feel safe in these spaces.”
Walied Khogali Ali, who grew up in Regent Park and has worked with the Regent Park Social Development Plan and is co-chair of the Regent Park Neighbourhood Association, says his top priority is affordable housing rooted in dignity. “Our communities deserve respect. Respect means affordable housing, responsible investment, safe streets, good jobs, food security, access to space, and leadership that shows up before, during and after a crisis.”
Several candidates and community members have criticized Moise’s handling of issues including the naming of the Louis March Park and renaming of Sankofa Square, and Moise’s proposal to fence off Barbara Hall Park at night.
Stikuts took issue with the idea of fencing Barbara Hall Park, saying, “It isn’t just a park, it’s also home to the AIDS memorial. People visit that memorial at all times in the day and evening.”
“The idea that we’re going to fence off this space of mourning is a real challenge. People have a right to access that space. I question a councillor who wants to open up the street to pedestrians while fencing off the park to residents.”
Speaking of Sankofa Square, Barberian Steak House owner Arron Barberian said, “I’m the guy that gave it the Yonge-Dundas Square name. It was vibrant and active for all the years I was involved, but you look at it now and it’s sad. It only got considerably worse after the renaming and nobody understands the name and it has no connection with the neighbourhood.”
“The square is losing ferocious amounts of money, and nobody will touch it; it’s unprogrammed now and it’s just awful. I think the square lost over $2 million last year. It cost $5 million to rebrand the square [plus] the cost of all the businesses in the neighbourhood.”
Ward said, “My issue is not what the name of the thing is. It should be decided by the community that uses it; the issue is how you do it. You must reach out and find a name that works for everybody. Let’s have community consultation. This one was just pushed through.”
Moise defended the renaming and consultation process. “Sankofa Square is an important symbol of breaking with the terrible history of slavery and its legacy of institutional racism that Henry Dundas had become synonymous with. Sankofa Square was the result of three years of consultations and a city-wide advisory committee spearheaded by Mayor John Tory and then-councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam.”
However, MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam who represented Ward 13 as city councillor before Moise, denies this.
“That’s not true. Neither John Tory nor I ever voted to rename the Square Sankofa. The first time I ever heard Yonge-Dundas Square being renamed Sankofa was when Moise introduced his motion. Renaming the square was never my initiative or even priority.”
On the opposition side, there is speculation from political insiders that Daniel Tate, founder and director of controversial advocacy group IntegrityTO, may enter the Ward 13 race.
City Council recently voted to reimburse Moise half of his over $20,000 legal expenses related to the Integrity Commissioner’s investigation of a complaint that he violated the city’s code of conduct for engaging with Tate “in a derogatory manner,” at a town hall meeting on January 16, 2025. Moise said Tate has “a white supremacy view.”
Communication and consultation have also emerged as campaign issues.
Stikuts said, “There isn’t a day that goes by that a community organization or person tells me that they haven’t gotten an email back from Moise’s office.”
Ward has questioned this summer’s partial pedestrianization of Church Street, which Moise supported despite concerns raised by some city staff in a memorandum regarding safety, traffic and costs.
“The concerns are how do we deal with emergency access; how do we get first responders there?” Ward said. “It’s not impossible, but they can’t be improvised.”
Moise defended the project and his record. “There’s been nitpicking galore from people who want narratives that advance their own preferred political or ideological agendas. If someone feels strongly enough, they’re welcome to walk their talk, make their case, and let the people decide.”
