Shelley Carroll is a Canadian politician who has served on Toronto City Council since 2003. Carroll has been the chair of the Budget Committee since 2023 and represents Ward 17 Don Valley North.

Shelley Carroll
Carroll in 2011
Toronto City Councillor
for Ward 17 Don Valley North
Assumed office
December 1, 2018
Preceded byWard established
Toronto City Councillor
for Ward 33 Don Valley East
In office
December 1, 2003 – April 5, 2018
Preceded byPaul Sutherland
Succeeded byJonathan Tsao
Deputy Speaker of Toronto City Council
In office
December 4, 2018[1] – October 25, 2022
Preceded byGlenn De Baeremaeker
Succeeded byStephen Holyday
In office
December 1, 2014 – April 5, 2018
Preceded byJohn Parker
Succeeded byGlenn De Baeremaeker
Toronto District School Board Trustee
for Ward 17 Don Valley East
In office
December 1, 2000 – December 1, 2003
Preceded byDoug Stephens
Succeeded byMichael Coteau
Personal details
BornMarch 5, 1957
Political partyIndependent
Other political
affiliations
Ontario Liberal (2018)
SpouseSandy
Children2
ResidenceToronto
Occupation
  • Politician
  • banking
  • childcare

Background

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Carroll worked in the banking industry before starting her own childcare business, while caring for her own special needs child. She first rose to prominence as head of the North York Parent Assembly and then the Toronto Educational Assembly. Both groups pushed for more funding for education and vigorously opposed the education reforms brought in by then-premier Mike Harris.[citation needed] Her tireless defence of public education led her to be elected as a School Board Trustee on the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) in 2000 and earned her a Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal.

Politics

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Toronto District School Board (TDSB) Trustee

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In the 2000 municipal election, she was elected as a Toronto District School Board (TDSB) trustee in Don Valley East, ousting the incumbent.[2] The school board endured fierce battles over provincial cuts to education, and Carroll became the leader of the faction of the Board refusing to implement the Harris agenda. She was elected Co-Chair of the Board by her peers in her last year in office. For her activism on behalf of children, she was awarded a Golden Jubilee Medal.[3]

Toronto City Council

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In the 2003 municipal election, she decided to run for city council when incumbent Paul Sutherland left to run in the provincial election. Her main opponent was former west-end councillor Rob Davis. During her first term on council she sat on the Budget Committee and then was elected by her peers to the position of Chair of the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee by mid-term.[citation needed]

After the 2006 municipal election, she was appointed to sit on Mayor David Miller's Executive Committee and was elected chair of the Budget Committee. Under the governance procedures of the time, only this chair was elected by a majority vote on council, all other standing committee chairs were appointed by the Mayor.[citation needed]

During her four years as budget chief, Carroll delivered four balanced budgets. She worked with the mayor to implement Canada's first municipal land transfer tax, which made Toronto financially sustainable for the first time since amalgamation.[4]

She was re-elected to city council in 2010 and in 2014. In December 2014, she was appointed to the Toronto Police Services Board.[5][6][7] She resigned from the board on March 26, 2018.[8]

Provincial politics

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In October 2016, Carroll announced that she would seek the Liberal Party nomination for the newly formed Don Valley North provincial riding in the next provincial election and was acclaimed as the candidate.[9]

She resigned from city council on April 5, 2018, in order to run in the 2018 provincial election, but lost to the Progressive Conservative Party candidate Vincent Ke.[10][11][12] Jonathan Tsao was appointed by city council to represent Ward 33 for the remainder of the term before municipal elections on October 22, 2018.[13][14]

Return to council

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On July 6, 2018, Carroll first announced that she was running for re-election to in Ward 31, renumbered from Ward 33.[15][16] After the ward boundary changes imposed by the Ontario Government of Doug Ford, Carroll ultimately ran for election in the newly expanded Ward 17 Don Valley North in the 2018 Toronto election.[17] She won by a significant margin over the runner up, Christina Liu, who was endorsed by former-mayor Mel Lastman.[18]

For the 2018–2022 council term, Carroll served as the vice chair of the North York Community Council, a member of the Toronto Transit Commission Board.[19] as well as being the deputy speaker of Toronto City Council.[20] Carroll also worked to secure a number of improvements for her community, including improved park playgrounds, affordable housing spaces, numerous traffic and pedestrian safety improvements, and the new Ethennonnhawahstihnen’ Community Centre, the first community recreation centre and library branch in Toronto to be named in collaboration with the Huron-Wendat Nation.

Carroll ran in the 2022 Toronto election, again winning by a significant margin over the runner up. Carroll served as the chair of Toronto's Economic and Community Development Committee. Carroll was named chair of the Budget Committee by Mayor Olivia Chow in 2023.[21]

Electoral record

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2022 Toronto election, Ward 17
Candidate Votes %
Shelley Carroll 12,897 71.79
Daryl Christoff 2,429 13.52
Calvin Xu 1,367 7.61
Angela Lindow 577 3.21
Justin Knott 409 2.28
Sandakie Ekanayake 286 1.59
Total 17,965 100%
2018 Toronto election, Ward 17
Candidate Votes %
Shelley Carroll 10,554 40.44%
Christina Liu 7,552 28.94%
Ken Lister 3,410 13.07%
Steven Chen 2,095 8.03%
Ian Hanecak 879 3.37%
Total 26,099 100%
2018 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes %
Progressive Conservative Vincent Ke 17,913 44.44
Liberal Shelley Carroll 12,470 30.93
New Democratic Akil Sadikali 8,431 20.91
Green Janelle Yanishewski 1,015 2.52
Libertarian Sarah Matthews 283 0.70
None of the Above Alexander Verstraten 200 0.50
Total valid votes 40,312 100.0  
Eligible voters 74,045
Turnout 54.44%
Source: Elections Ontario[22][23]
2014 Toronto election, Ward 33 [24]
Candidate Votes %
Shelley Carroll 9,747 60.47%
Divya Nayak 3,534 21.92%
Paul Bell 2,097 13.01%
Dina Karzman 525 3.26%
Khamphay Inthisorn 216 1.34%
Total 16,119 100%
2010 Toronto election, Ward 33 [25]
Candidate Votes %
Shelley Carroll 7,946 57.659%
Fil Giannakopoulos 2,787 20.223%
Mike Ihnat 1,886 13.686%
David Raines 1,162 8.432%
Total 13,781 100%
2006 Toronto election, Ward 33 [26]
Candidate Votes %
Shelley Carroll 6,219 59.3%
Sarah Tsang-Fahey 1,424 13.6%
Zane Caplan 1,392 13.3%
Jim Conlon 1,060 10.1%
Anderson Tung 398 3.4%
Total 10,493 100%
2003 Toronto election, Ward 33
Candidate Votes %
Shelley Carroll 4,744 36.6
Rob Davis 3,923 30.2
Aris Babikian 1,757 13.5
Wayne Habib 1,164 9.0
Jim Conlon 675 5.2
Allan Ginsberg 287 2.2
Asad Alam 232 1.8
Ari Maounis 191 1.5

References

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  1. ^ "Mayor John Tory calls on smaller city council to 'work together'". www.cbc.ca. Retrieved 2019-12-25.
  2. ^ Pagliaro, Jennifer (October 11, 2016). "North York Councillor Shelley Carroll seeking provincial Liberal nomination". Toronto Star. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
  3. ^ "The Governor General of Canada - Recipients". Retrieved April 19, 2017.
  4. ^ Alcoba, Natalie (16 April 2014). "Candidate finds not many land transfer tax foes are actually in favour of killing it outright". Postmedia Breaking News.
  5. ^ "Agenda Item History".
  6. ^ Gillis, Wendy (December 15, 2014). "What to expect at today's final Toronto Police Services Board meeting of 2014". Toronto Star.
  7. ^ Reddekopp, Lorenda (July 3, 2017). "Andrew Loku coroner's inquest urges Taser for police, re-igniting debate". CBC News.
  8. ^ "Toronto Police Services Board - Public Meeting" (PDF). tpsb.ca. April 18, 2018. p. 163.
  9. ^ Benzie, Robert (May 2, 2017). "Shelley Carroll gets Liberal nomination in Don Valley North". Toronto Star. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
  10. ^ "PC's Vincent Ke takes Don Valley North". Toronto Star. 7 June 2018.
  11. ^ "Toronto councillor Shelley Carroll resigning to run for provincial Liberals". CityNews. April 5, 2018.
  12. ^ Levy, Sue-Ann (April 8, 2018). "Not so fast Shelley Carroll". Toronto Sun.
  13. ^ Freeman, Joshua (April 30, 2018). "City taking nominations to fill Ward 33 council seat after Carroll's departure". CP24.
  14. ^ "New Toronto Councillor Jonathan Tsao appointed to Ward 33 amid controversy". Toronto Star. May 22, 2018.
  15. ^ Shelley Carroll [@shelleycarroll] (July 6, 2018). "Happy to have friends and my team with me as I register to run for re-election in the new Ward 31!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  16. ^ Nickle, David (July 6, 2018). "Former Toronto councillor Shelley Carroll running for her old job". Toronto Star.
  17. ^ "Toronto election 2018: Ward 17 Don Valley North - Toronto | Globalnews.ca".
  18. ^ "BRAUN: Mel Lastman endorses Christina Liu in Don Valley North".
  19. ^ "Challenges Ahead for the 2019 TTC Board". 5 January 2019.
  20. ^ "James Pasternak elected chair of North York Community Council". 11 December 2018.
  21. ^ "ST2.1 - Mayor Chow - Councillors and Committees" (PDF). City of Toronto.
  22. ^ "Candidate Search". Elections Ontario. Archived from the original on June 8, 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  23. ^ "Don Valley North Election Night Results". Archived from the original on June 8, 2018.
  24. ^ Ulli S. Watkiss (October 30, 2014). "Declaration of Results" (PDF). Toronto City Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 5, 2016. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
  25. ^ Ulli S. Watkiss (October 28, 2010). "Declaration of Results of Voting" (PDF). Toronto City Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 29, 2014. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
  26. ^ Ulli S. Watkiss (November 16, 2006). "Declaration of Results of Voting" (PDF). Toronto City Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 29, 2014. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
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