Joe Cressy

Joseph Cressy (Listen) (born July 10, 1984)[3] is a Canadian politician and activist. He currently serves as a member of Toronto City Council representing Ward 10 Spadina—Fort York, and is chair of the Toronto Board of Health.

Joe Cressy
Cressy in 2014
Toronto City Councillor for Ward 10 Spadina—Fort York
Incumbent
Assumed office December 1, 2018
Preceded by	Ward Established
Toronto City Councillor for Ward 20 Trinity—Spadina
In office December 1, 2014 – December 1, 2018
Preceded by	Ceta Ramkhalawansingh
Succeeded by	Ward Abolished
Personal details
Born	July 10, 1984 Toronto, Ontario
Nationality	Canadian
Political party	Independent (municipal politicians are elected on a non-partisan basis)
Other political affiliations	New Democratic Party
Spouse(s)	Nina Gorka ​ ​ (m. 2013; div. 2016)​ [1] Grace O'Connell ​ (m. 2018)​ [2]
Parents	Gordon Cressy Joanne Campbell
Residence	Toronto, Ontario
Website	www.joecressy.com

Activism and political career

Cressy has worked on various social-justice issues, which traces back to high school when he spent a year in South Africa.[4] Upon returning to high school in Toronto, he got involved in the anti-Iraq war movement[5] and has since worked on anti-poverty campaigns in South Africa, literacy programs with First Nations communities in Northern Ontario, and worked with The Stop Community Food Centre.

Cressy also supports LGBTQ issues at home and abroad,[6] volunteering for an LGBTQ organization while studying abroad in Accra and supporting the NDP’s call for a visa ban against legislators who passed anti-gay laws in Russia.

2014 House of Commons run

Cressy ran for the New Democratic Party (NDP) in a by-election seeking to represent Trinity—Spadina in the House of Commons of Canada following former NDP member of Parliament (MP) Olivia Chow's resignation to run for mayor of Toronto in the 2014 mayoral election. Cressy placed second, following winner Adam Vaughan who previously represented Ward 20 in Toronto City Council.[7]

Toronto City Council

Following his defeat federally, Cressy ran and was elected in the 2014 municipal election in Ward 20 Trinity—Spadina, succeeding Ceta Ramkhalawansingh, who was appointed interim councillor following Vaughan's resignation to run for MP.[7][8]

As councillor, Cressy has sat on the Toronto Board of Health (serving as chair), the board of directors for Toronto Community Housing, the Parks and Environment Committee and the sub-committee on Climate Change and Adaptation.

He was reelected in the 2018 municipal election, by one of the widest victory margins of any councillor in the city with 55.06% of the vote.[9]

Personal life

Cressy is the son of former Toronto city councillors Gordon Cressy and Joanne Campbell.[10] His birth in 1984 made Campbell the first woman in Toronto City Council history to give birth to a child while serving as a councillor.[11]

He studied public affairs and policy management at Carleton University. Prior to his entry into electoral politics, he worked for the Stephen Lewis Foundation and the Polaris Institute,[12] and was campaign manager for Mike Layton's (son of former federal NDP leader Jack Layton) successful campaign for a city council seat in the 2010 municipal election and NDP MP Olivia Chow's reelection campaign in the 2011 federal election.[10] He was also initially involved in Chow's mayoral campaign in 2014, but withdrew when he decided to run in the Trinity—Spadina by-election.[12]

Election results

2018 Toronto election, Ward 10

Candidate	Votes	Vote share
Joe Cressy	15,903	55.06%
April Engelberg	3,346	11.58%
Kevin Vuong	3,018	10.45%
Sabrina Zuniga	1,564	5.41%
John Nguyen	1,032	3.57%
9 other candidates	4,021	13.93%
Total	28,884	100%
Source: City of Toronto[13][14]

2014 Toronto election, Ward 20

Candidate	Votes	%
Joe Cressy	12,466	41.96
Terri Chu	3,693	12.43
Sarah Thomson	2,808	9.45
Mike Yen	1,431	4.81
Philip Morrison	1,407	4.73
Anshul Kapoor	1,063	3.57
Charles MacDonald	972	3.27
Albert Koehl	853	2.87
Tonny Louie	740	2.49
Daryl Christoff	705	2.37
Mike Andreae	590	1.98
Sam Goldstein	519	1.74
Nick Wright	395	1.33
Stephanie Carty-Kegel	376	1.26
Sam Novak	376	1.26
Garaham Hollings	307	1.03
Stella Kargiannakis	286	0.96
Leanne Hicks	212	0.71
Susan Tsai	194	0.65
Michael Monaghan	128	0.43
Kat Shermack	102	0.34
Akeem Fasasi	86	0.28
Total	29,709	100

Unofficial results as of October 27, 2014 10:05 PM[15]

Canadian federal by-election, June 30, 2014: Trinity—Spadina Resignation of Olivia Chow
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Adam Vaughan	18,547	53.66	+30.27
	New Democratic	Joe Cressy	11,802	34.14	−20.37
	Conservative	Benjamin Sharma	2,022	5.85	−10.96
	Green	Camille Labchuk	1,880	5.43	+1.05
	Christian Heritage	Linda Groce-Gibbons	174	0.50	–
	Independent	John "The Engineer" Turmel	141	0.41	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			34,566	100.00	–
Total rejected ballots			111	0.32	−0.12
Turnout			34,677	31.78	−37.02
Eligible voters			110,252
	Liberal gain from New Democratic		Swing		+25.32
By-election due to the resignation of Olivia Chow to run in the 2014 Toronto mayoral election.
Source: Elections Canada[16]

References

1. "Transcript: Joe Cressy: Confronting My Panic Attacks". TVO, January 11, 2019.
2. "Transcript: Joe Cressy: Confronting My Panic Attacks". TVO, January 11, 2019.
3. "Meet Joe Cressy: Door-knocking in Trinity Spadina and loving it". iPolitics, April 15, 2014.
4. "Joe Cressy on Nelson Mandela and Inspiration". "Now Toronto", December 12, 2013.
5. "Protesters in Canada express anger at Bush, Iraq War". "Jamaica Observer", December 1, 2004.
6. "Former Chow staffer seeks NDP nomination in Trinity-Spadina". "Daily Xtra", March 21, 2014.
7. "Joe Cressy wins second time in Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina". Toronto Star, October 27, 2014.
8. Apr 15, Laura Beaulne-Stuebing Published on; 2014 3:38pm (2014-04-15). "Meet Joe Cressy: Door-knocking in Trinity Spadina and loving it". iPolitics. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
9. Sara Mojtehedzade (2018-10-22). "Joe Cressy wins by a landslide". Toronto Star. Joe Cressy has vowed to fight for the city’s “most vulnerable” after a sweeping win in Spadina-Fort York.
10. "NDP turns to young activist with deep Chow roots in Trinity-Spadina". Toronto Star, March 17, 2014.
11. "City Hall Notebook". The Globe and Mail, July 23, 1984.
12. "Meet Joe Cressy: The man who seeks to replace Olivia Chow in Ottawa". Yahoo! News Canada, April 2, 2014.
13. "Declaration of Results" (PDF). Toronto City Clerk's Office. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
14. "2018 Municipal Election (25 Wards)". Retrieved June 15, 2020.
15. City of Toronto elections page
16. "Elections Canada". Elections Canada. October 3, 2014. Retrieved October 12, 2014.

External links

• Official site