Veteran city councillor and deputy mayor Joe Pantalone has made it official he wants to become Mayor Joe Pantalone, one who represents the diversity of the metropolis.
He claimed that if elected, he would be the first mayor whose mother tongue is not English.
But first he expressed his condolences to what he said are the 15,000 Torontonians of Haitian origin whose homeland is suffering after a deadly and devastating earthquake.
"Toronto is a great city," Pantalone told reporters and supporters on Wednesday, calling it a place of creativity, opportunity and diversity.
Pantalone came here as a 13-year-old from Italy, along with his poorly educated parents and six siblings, saying his only two words of English were "ya" and "no."
As mayor, Pantalone said he would move to "deepen" and "broaden" the city's diversity.
"I don't believe that we're properly using that diversity to the benefit of Toronto and the rest of the world," he said.
There are "amazing connections to the rest of the world, but there's no inventory of that," Pantalone said, adding he would work to solve that problem.
The 57-year-old Pantalone tried to paint his nearly three decades on council as a plus, noting that "for six years as deputy mayor, I've been an apprentice mayor."
None of the main challengers can match him for experience at the municipal level.
George Smitherman had been a senior cabinet minister in the Liberal government of Premier Dalton McGuinty before deciding to run for mayor. Coun. Georgio Mammoliti has been on council for since 1995, having served five years as an MLA before that.
Rocco Rossi is the only one of the four major candidates to declare so far who has not served in elected office.
Smitherman has kept his policy cards close to his vest. Rossi is talking about selling off city services to get Toronto's troubled books in order, and Mammoliti would like to see a casino built on the waterfront.
Pantalone said he starts with the supposition that Toronto is a great city, and services help make it that way.
"When you have such an organism that works ... you have to treat it with care," he said. "You cannot bring a baseball bat ... and start smashing away, because it means smashing people and services. This is an organism, this is a beautiful flower that needs to be nurtured."
Pantalone promised a collegial working style as mayor -- a knock some have aimed at outgoing Mayor David Miller, who has kicked councillors off executive committees if they voted against his policies.
Pantalone also promised to continue the greening of Toronto, including "green storefronts" to help residents get information on living more sustainable lives.
Currently, Pantalone is the most leftist of the major candidates. A member of the NDP, he has said party politics don't belong at City Hall.
Shelley Carroll, the city's budget chief who is considered on council's left, took herself out of the running on Tuesday.
TTC chair Adam Giambrone is still mulling a run for the mayor's chair. He would be competing for left-wing votes with Pantalone.
Right-wing councillors Rob Ford and Denzil Minnan-Wong are also said to be contemplating a run for mayor.
