Former Toronto city councillor to run for Conservatives next election

Former Toronto city councillor Karen Stintz says she hopes to run for the Conservative Party of Canada in the next federal election.

A former chair of the TTC, Stintz was first elected to the riding of Eglinton-Lawrence in 2003. She stepped away from politics in 2014 after an unsuccessful bid to be Toronto’s mayor, dropping out of the race after falling well behind top-polling candidates John Tory, Olivia Chow, and Rob Ford.

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Stintz, who is currently the president and CEO of Variety Village, a non-profit recreation centre for children with disabilities, said she didn’t think she would ever return to politics after her departure from public office a decade ago.

“I was in political retirement for some time and never thought I would make this leap back but over the last several months, I’ve been quite inspired by Pierre Poilievre and the vision that he has for the country,” she said in an interview with CP24 on Monday.

“I began to think maybe I’m not done yet. My community doesn’t feel well-served by the current government.”

She confirmed to CP24 that she hopes to run for the Conservatives in the riding of Eglinton-Lawrence, which is currently held by Liberal MP Marco Mendicino.

“Marco is well known in the community and well liked. He’s a great guy,” she said. “But he is in the wrong party and the community doesn’t feel well served by the Liberal government and he can’t change that.”

Stintz said she received “overwhelmingly” positive feedback from members of the community and the party to continue with her bid to be the Conservative candidate in the riding.

“I feel that the community is ready for a change and it is a managed change because I’m a known quantity in the community,” she said. “I’ve been there for 25 years. I represented half of the riding as a city councillor.”

She said she believes she brings the “right mix” of progressive and conservative views.

“I’ve written… in support of bike lanes,” she said with a laugh.

“So I don’t think people see me as a hard-line conservative but I definitely think I’m viewed as right of centre, and consistent with the progressive views of the city. You can still hold progressive views but want a bit of conservatism to the politics and the budget and to the direction of the nation.”