What you need to know about Ward 8 - Eglinton-Lawrence

An image of a voter at an advanced polling station in Toronto. (Scott Lightfoot/CTV News Toronto)

Competition in Ward 8 – Eglinton-Lawrence has been sliced in half since the last election with only five candidates running for city council this time around.

In 2018, Mike Colle won the ward in a landslide with an almost 20 per point lead over fellow incumbent Christin Carmichael Greb, who he ended up matched up against following a reduction in the number of wards.

Colle, who has been endorsed by John Tory in the upcoming municipal election, has represented Eglinton-Lawrence as a city councillor and MPP for three decades.

Before he was elected as MPP in 1995, Colle was a councillor for the City of York, and was the chair and commissioner of the TTC from 1988 to 1994.

A map of Ward 8 - Eglinton-Lawrence. (City of Toronto)

In February, Colle introduced a “home speculation and home flipping tax”, which was approved by a 21-4 vote by council. The Land Speculation Tax is used to stop real estate speculators and house flippers from jacking up the cost of housing in the city “to unprecedented levels”, the motion reads.

On the topic of affordable housing, Evan Sambasivam is seeking to help unhoused Torontonians by investing in supportive housing for them, and plans to work with all levels of government to create more housing options.

Wendy Weston’s “top priority” is also housing, where she plans to push for full, expedited implementation of HousingTO. The decade-long action plan details the City’s plans for how it will address housing options from unhoused residents to long-term care.

Ward 8, or Eglinton-Lawrence, sprawls from Eglinton Avenue West to Highway 401, and Yonge Street to the Canadian National Railway tracks.

Other candidates running in the ward include Philip Davidovits, CEO of Sayumo Capital Inc., an investment and assessment firm, and local volunteer, Domenico Maiolo.

If elected, Davidovits says he will focus on things like creating programs for current homeowners to keep their homes, minimizing road construction, and providing grants to small businesses.

Meanwhile, Maiolo vows to create a "responsible" government as well as a “better place for future generations than the way he found it.”

Eglinton-Lawrence at a glance

Population: 114,395

Average number of people per household: 2.55

Median age: 40 years

Population growth over the last decade: 3.9 per cent (Toronto-wide average is 9.1 per cent)

Visible minorities: 32 per cent of the population (Toronto-wide average is 51 per cent)

Average household income: $162,674 (Toronto-wide average is $102,721)