Kristyn Wong-Tam

Kristyn Wong-Tam (born c. 1971) is a Canadian politician who served on Toronto City Council from 2018 to 2022. Wong-Tam was first elected in 2010 Toronto election in Ward 27 Toronto Centre-Rosedale, and was subsequently re-elected following the 2014 election and 2018 election in the newly created Ward 13 Toronto Centre.

Kristyn Wong-Tam
Wong-Tam in 2018
Toronto City Councillor
for Ward 13 Toronto Centre
In office
December 1, 2018 – May 4, 2022
Preceded byWard created
Toronto City Councillor
for Ward 27 Toronto Centre-Rosedale
In office
December 1, 2010 – November 30, 2018
Preceded byKyle Rae
Succeeded byWard dissolved
Personal details
Born1971 (age 50–51)
Hong Kong
NationalityCanadian
Political partyOntario New Democratic
Other political
affiliations		Independent (municipal)
Residence(s)Toronto, Ontario
Occupation
  • Businesswoman
  • politician
Websitehttps://www.kristynwongtam.ca/
Kristyn Wong-Tam
Traditional Chinese黃慧文[1]
Simplified Chinese黄慧文

Wong-Tam resigned as a Toronto city councillor on May 4, 2022 to run as the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP) candidate in Toronto Centre for the upcoming June 2022 provincial election.

Early life and work

Born in Hong Kong and raised in a Buddhist family,[2][3] she immigrated to Toronto with her family in 1975.[4] She grew up in the Regent Park neighbourhood of Toronto, with her family settling there first before a move to the suburbs.[5] A real estate agent and business owner, she is the former owner of a Timothy's franchise in Toronto's Church and Wellesley Village,[6] and the owner of the KWT (formerly the XEXE) contemporary art gallery at Bathurst and Richmond Street West.[7][8]

Activism

Wong-Tam, who is a Canadian of Chinese origin, came out as a lesbian in high school, at the age of 16[9] and has been an activist for both LGBTQ and Asian Canadian community issues, serving on the Chinese Canadian National Council[6] and helping to found Asian Canadians For Equal Marriage[10] and the Church and Wellesley Village's business improvement area.[6] In 2011, she cooperated with Toronto's Lesbian Gay Bi Trans Youth Line to create an award, named in memory of Toronto artist Will Munro, to honour LGBT youth involved in community arts projects in Ontario.[11]

Prior to the 2010 Toronto municipal election, it emerged that Wong-Tam had provided support for the political advocacy group Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QuAIA). In an interview with the Toronto Sun newspaper, she said that she lent her credit card to register the group's website because no one in the group owned a credit card. Wong-Tam "listed her home address in the registration but gave the contact number as her Coldwell Banker real estate office on Yonge St."[12] Wong-Tam was the registered owner of the site until August 31, 2010.[13]

Political career

Rookie councillor (2010–2014)

In the 2010 election, Wong-Tam ran in Ward 27 to replace Kyle Rae who had chosen to retire, defeating opponent Ken Chan in the heated race by just 400 plus votes.[14]

She was endorsed by the Toronto and York Labour Council.[15] She was also supported by neighbouring councillor Adam Vaughan, street nurse Cathy Crowe and author Michele Landsberg.[16]

Wong-Tam, in a post-election interview with the Toronto Sun, says that she is "really looking forward to working with the Mayor" and that she supports Mayor Rob Ford's campaign pledge to scrap the personal vehicle tax and the land transfer tax. She also noted that she did not renew her New Democratic Party membership, saying: "I think all (council) rookies are saying the same thing – they don't want to be pigeon-holed."[17]

Second term (2014–2018)

Wong-Tam was re-elected in Ward 27 in 2014.[18]

Third run and new ward boundaries (2018–2022)

In the lead up to the 2018 Toronto municipal election, City Council approved a redrawing of municipal ward boundaries, increasing its size from 44, after an independent consultant recommended the City adopt a 47 ward system.[19] However, the Ontario government under Progressive Conservative Premier Doug Ford amended the Municipal Elections Act, forcing the City of Toronto to cut the size of its City Council from 47, plus the Mayor, to 25, plus the Mayor. There was swift reaction regarding this move from various council members, including Wong-Tam, who called the move "extremely anti-democratic" and described it "as a takeover of Toronto." Wong-Tam said in an interview "This greater concentration of power does not give and deliver better government", and "He [Ford] will speak in populist platitudes about saving taxpayer dollars, but it's going to come at the cost of the erosion of the democratic process."[20]

Provincial politics

On April 8, 2022, Wong-Tam and Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath announced that Wong-Tam would be the party's candidate in Toronto Centre in the upcoming June 2 election.[21] Wong-Tam will resign from her council seat effective May 4.[22]

Election results
2018 Toronto municipal election, Ward 13 Toronto Centre
Candidate Votes Vote share
Kristyn Wong-Tam 15,706 50.26%
George Smitherman 4,734 15.15%
Lucy Troisi 2,698 8.63%
Khuram Aftab 1,794 5.74%
Walied Khogali Ali 1,408 4.51%
Ryan Lester 968 3.10%
Tim Gordanier 734 2.35%
Jon Callegher 713 2.28%
John Jeffery 530 1.70%
Catherina Perez 511 1.64%
Megann Willson 411 1.32%
Barbara Lavoie 176 0.56%
Jordan Stone 161 0.52%
Richard Forget 150 0.48%
Jonathan Heath 144 0.46%
Kyle McNally 138 0.44%
Darren Abramson 108 0.35%
Gladys Larbie 101 0.32%
Rob Wolvin 64 0.20%
Total 31,249
100%
Source: City of Toronto[23]
2014 Toronto election, Ward 27[24]
Candidate Votes  %
Kristyn Wong-Tam19,68262.49%
Megan McIver5,34016.96%
Benjamin Dichter1,5284.85%
Jordan Stone1,2704.03%
David Byford8392.66%
Susan Humfryes7942.52%
Robin Lawrance7042.24%
Kamal Ahmed6091.93%
Alain DAmours3781.20%
Rob Wolvin3511.11%
Total31,495100%
2010 Toronto election, Ward 27[25][26]
Candidate Votes  %
Kristyn Wong-Tam7,52728.277%
Ken Chan7,06526.541%
Chris Tindal3,44712.949%
Simon Wookey2,1287.994%
Joel Dick1,6676.262%
Robert Meynell1,2234.594%
Enza Anderson1,1274.234%
Ella Rebanks8383.148%
Ben Bergen3801.428%
Susan Gapka3671.379%
Gary Leroux2831.063%
Paul Spence2430.913%
Jonas Jemstone1420.533%
Ram Narula1080.406%
Perry Missal740.278%
Total26,619100%

References
  1. "Kristyn Wong-Tam (@kristynwongtam) | Twitter". twitter.com. Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2013-11-26.
  2. "Wong-Tam replaces Kyle Rae in Ward 27" Archived 2017-09-12 at the Wayback Machine. Toronto Sun, October 25, 2010.
  3. "City hall rookies 2010: Kristyn Wong-Tam" Archived 2012-10-23 at the Wayback Machine Toronto Star, November 24, 2010.
  4. RUtv News (2012-02-10), RUtv News Feature Report: Kristyn Wong-Tam, retrieved 2016-09-22
  5. "Toronto through the eyes of Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam" Archived 2011-10-13 at the Wayback Machine.BlogTO,February 7, 2011.
  6. "Blend of business & activism marks Ward 27 candidate Kristyn Wong-Tam". Xtra!. October 7, 2010. Archived from the original on November 30, 2021. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  7. "Inside City Hall:The Arrival of Kristyn Wong-Tam" Archived 2018-06-29 at the Wayback Machine. Toronto Standard, July 25, 2010.
  8. "Kristyn Wong-Tam: Juggling city hall and an art gallery". The Globe and Mail. February 11, 2011. Archived from the original on November 30, 2021. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  9. "Parental Guidance: Pride 2007 honoured groups/PFLAG Toronto sticks up for queer kids". Xtra!. June 21, 2007. Archived from the original on November 30, 2021. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  10. "City Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam". City Councillors. City of Toronto. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved September 21, 2011.
  11. (2010). "The Spirit of Will Munro Award Archived July 14, 2010, at the Wayback Machine", Youthline.ca. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
  12. "The other face of the Ward 27 frontrunner" Archived 2010-11-22 at the Wayback Machine, Toronto Sun Newspaper, September 23, 2010
  13. "Ward 27 candidate owned Queers Against Israeli Apartheid website". National Post. September 24, 2010. Archived from the original on April 28, 2022. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  14. "Ward 27: Kristyn Wong-Tam replaces Kyle Rae in diverse riding". The Toronto Star. 2010-10-25. ISSN 0319-0781. Archived from the original on 2021-10-29. Retrieved 2021-10-14.
  15. "Reading the Labour Council tea leaves". The Globe and Mail. July 15, 2010. Archived from the original on November 30, 2021. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  16. "Rating the races". Now Magazine. September 10, 2010. Archived from the original on November 30, 2021. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  17. Toronto Sun, Dec. 3, 2010, p. 6 "Kristyn Wong Tam" by Don Peat
  18. DeMara, Bruce (2014-10-27). "Kristyn Wong-Tam easily wins Ward 27, Toronto Centre-Rosedale". The Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781. Archived from the original on 2018-06-29. Retrieved 2021-10-14.
  19. "Three seats being added to Toronto council for the 2018 election | The Star". thestar.com. Archived from the original on 2021-02-28. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
  20. "Ontario will introduce legislation to slash Toronto city council — a move not welcomed by some". CBC News. July 27, 2018. Archived from the original on 2021-04-11. Retrieved 2021-11-30.
  21. Pagliaro, Jennifer (2022-04-08). "Kristyn Wong-Tam to leave city council to run for the NDP in June provincial election". The Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781. Archived from the original on 2022-04-08. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
  22. "Kristyn Wong-Tam resigning from Toronto city council, running as Ontario NDP candidate - Toronto | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Archived from the original on 2022-04-08. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
  23. "Declaration of Results" (PDF). Toronto City Clerk's Office. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 25, 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 November 6, 2017.
  25. City of Toronto elections page Archived October 26, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  26. Watkiss, Ulli S. "2010 Clerk's Official Declaration of Election Results" (PDF). City Clerk's Office, City of Toronto. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-02-24. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.