Councillors Jon Burnside and Jaye Robinson slugged it out on the issues as identified by those who attended the candidates debate at Leaside Arena Tuesday night. The two incumbents are thrown into competition with each other by the reduction in the number of wards which was legislated by the Ford government. Mr. Burnside represents the old Ward 26, Ms Robinson the old Ward 25. Now they are contesting the new Ward 15, Don Valley West. Questions from the audience were read by moderator Brian Athey, past president of the Leaside Property Owners Association, which sponsored the debate. They asked how the candidates would deal with the increased number of constituents in the larger ward, what would be their priorities, did they favour a hand gun ban in Toronto, privatized garbage collection east of Yonge St. and cycling issues. Candidate Tanweer Khan joined the panel although two other candidates Minh Le and Nicola Streker were absent
PRIORITIES
Jaye Robinson said her local priorities would be traffic infiltration of Leaside, development (which she called aggressive over-development) and the threatened over-capacity of Leaside schools. Jon Burnside also cited traffic and referenced the referendum he sponsored in North Leaside where, as he said, “the people spoke.” He emphasized road safety and the need for photo radar and more police. He named development and what he called the ongoing relationship between Leaside and Thorncliffe Park to avoid the “regionalization of poverty.”
