In the 2018 municipal election, the newly formed Ward 23 - Scarborough North was one of only three wards across the city with no incumbent councillor running, after Chin Lee, who had held Ward 41 since 2006, decided to retire.
What ensued was a close race between Lee’s long-time constituency assistant and endorsee, Maggie Chi, realtor Cynthia Lai and former provincial NDP candidate Felicia Samuel.
Lai won the race, but narrowly, beating out Chi by less than 1,500 votes and Samuel by less than 2,000.
Lai was running for re-election this year, but died on Oct. 21, just days before Toronto voters went to the polls.
The city has confirmed that the election for councillor in Ward 23 will still go ahead on Monday. Under the Municipal Elections Act, if a candidate dies before voting day and there are at least two other candidates running, the election will proceed as if that candidate had not been nominated.
Three other candidates are vying to represent Scarborough North.
Jamaal Myers, a 39-year-old lawyer, describes his platform as being results driven, with a focus on investing in local people and businesses.
Myers says that as a community advocaate, he’s “delivered measurable results that have enhanced the quality of life in Ward 23,” including helping to lead the coalition that secured funding for the Eglinton East LRT and helping to get affordable homes built quickly in Scarborough as a volunteer with HousingNowTO.
Phillip Francis is another one of Lai’s challengers. He’s a financial advisor who says he was an “executive officer in the civil service for over ten years.”
His website says that he has “organized various community and cultural events, giving clients an opportunity to voice their needs and concerns such as maintenance and housing waiting list and rent calculations.”
If elected, Francis says that he would work towards improving and strengthening the local community by making the TTC free for seniors and by “negotiating with stakeholders and required agencies to build more units thus reducing the housing wait list.”
Virginia Jones is the fourth and final candidate running in Ward 23.
Her website describes her as a “communications, media, community and government relations, event planning, crisis, disaster and emergency management specialist with decades of diverse hands-on experience working with all members of the community.”
Jones says she wants to “stop crime, discrimination, drugs, violence and waste” and her website also mentions saying no to “fear and lockdowns.”
In a survey conducted by Forum Research in September, Lai had the support of roughly 52 per cent of respondents, while Jones was second with the support of about 25 per cent of respondents. Myers was third at 17 per cent.
The city said as ballots with Lai's name have already been printed and cannot be changed in time for Monday, a notice of Lai's death will be made available in all 35 voting places in Ward 23.
"Any votes cast for the candidate on election day, as well as those already cast during the advance vote and through mail-in voting, will not be counted," the city said.
Scarborough North at a glance
Population: 98,800
Average number of people per household: 3.33
Median age: 41.5
Population growth over the last decade: 1.2 per cent (Toronto-wide average is 9.1 per cent)
Household
Visible minorities: 92 per cent of population (Toronto-wide average is 51 per cent).
Average household income: $78,984 (Toronto-wide average is $102,721)
