Here’s Who’s Running in Brampton’s Municipal Election (Part 2)

Published July 2, 2018 at 6:55 pm

With the provincial election behind us, it’s time to start thinking about Brampton’s municipal election, which is coming up this fall.

And there’s already a lot going on when it comes to who’s running in this year’s election.

Click here for a brief on what’s happened so far.

The municipal election campaigning period began on May 1, which is when candidates were able to start registering to run in the October election. Once someone puts down their filing fee and gets 25 signatures endorsing their candidacy, they can start raising money and campaigning as a candidate.

Map of Brampton city wards for municipal election. Photo courtesy of City of Brampton

For this year’s municipal election cycle, there are three periods to take note of when it come to finding out who is running:

May 1, where there is much fanfare over being “the first out of the gate”.
The period after the June 7 provincial election, when there could be former MPPs and candidates looking to another attempt at continuing in politics.
The last day to register on July 27 at 2 p.m., where there is the possibility of a last minute scramble of candidates signing up.

Here’s a breakdown of who is running for Brampton’s Mayor, City and Regional Councillors, and School Board Trustees:

Brampton Mayor

Mayor Linda Jeffrey is seeking her second term after sweeping into office in 2014 by defeating scandal-plagued incumbent Susan Fennell. Jeffrey has faced challenges during her first term over the Hurontario LRT, the new university and bringing accountability to city hall.

So far her only challengers are local lawyer Wesley Jackson, and Omar Mansoury.

Wards 1 and 5 (City and Regional)

The City and Regional positions are being vacated because Regional Councillor Elaine Moore and City Councillor Grant Gibson announced their retirements earlier this year.

Gibson’s seat currently has four candidates running to replace him: Princess Boucher (who was a municipal candidate in North York in 2014), Don Patel, Daryl Romeo, and Ontario NDP organizer Rowena Santos.

As for the Regional Council seat, there are three candidates running: Mario Russo, a real estate consultant/business owner, community activist Paul Vicente, and Brampton Sports Hall of Fame inductee, powerlifter Harnek Rai.

Wards 2 and 6 (City and Regional)

Incumbent City Councillor Doug Whillans, who is the son of a former Brampton Mayor, is running for his second term. So far, he is facing Joe Sidhu and Jermaine Chambers, who was a former nomination candidate for the Ontario PC party in Brampton West.

Regional Councillor Michael Palleschi is currently facing one other candidate in his bid for re-election: Raghav Patel, from an organization called Clean Up Brampton.

Wards 3 and 4 (City and Regional)

Both City Councillor Jeff Bowman and Regional Councillor Martin Medeiros have registered to run for re-election.

Bowman is currently facing Parin Choksi, a businessman and mortgage agent, Nishi Sidhu, and Tanveer Singh.

Realtor Chirag Patel is challenging Medeiros.

Wards 7 and 8 (City and Regional)

With Regional Councillor Gael Miles retiring, City Councillor Pat Fortini is running in her place. Fortini’s City position is being sought by Martin Singh, a businessman and former federal NDP leadership candidate who ran for MP in Brampton North in 2015.

“I am excited to announce my candidacy for Brampton City Council Wards 7 and 8, and I am excited to work together for a better Brampton in Wards 7 and 8 with Pat Fortini,” Singh said in a joint statement with Fortini.

“Brampton is a great city, but it can be even better. During this term of council, I have watched our two city representatives clash on numerous issues and I think that shouldn’t be the norm, so I will work with Pat if elected.”

“I am so thankful that Martin Singh is putting his name forward for City Council in Wards 7 and 8. Martin is someone who I know I can work with and will make a difference in Brampton. He has the skills and knowledge to help make it even better for everyone. I am delighted to give him my endorsement and run with him as a team in this election.”

Wards 9 and 10 (City and Regional)

There will also be some changes coming to council composition in these wards, where City Councillor Gurpreet Dhillon is seeking the Regional Council seat.

Peel District School Trustee Hakirat Singh is running for the city seat Dhillon is vacating.

Singh is facing one other challenger so far: Dharmavir Gohil, while Dhillon is facing a construction inspector named Amratlal Mistry.

But one name that should be still kept on the radar is Regional Councillor John Sprovieri, who indicated he was retiring but said he could still run for City Council if the issues of the Inzola Lawsuit and water fluoridation at Peel Region were not resolved.

Here are the candidates running for School Board Trustee in the Peel District School Board:

Wards 1 and 5

Incumbent trustee David Green is running for reelection and is currently facing Stan Taylor, who is an advocate for a group called Education Matters.

Wards 2 and 6

Incumbent trustee Suzanne Nurse, who is also the Vice Chair of the PDSB, has not yet registered to run for re-election. So far this seat has three registered candidates for school board: Harjot Singh Gill, Mansoor Mirza, and Odoi Yemoh.

Wards 3 and 4

Incumbent trustee Kathy McDonald is facing three other candidates in her reelection bid: Shahbaz Altaf, Prabhjot Kainth, and Raman Rakkar.

Wards 7 and 8

Incumbent trustee Carrie Andrews is currently facing only one challenger: Michael J. Gyovai, who is a current Vice Chair of Peel School Council at the PDSB as well as being a resource development manager at the Boys and Girls Club of Peel.

Wards 9 and 10

As previously mentioned, incumbent trustee Harkirat Singh is running for Brampton city council. There are currently four candidates running to replace him: Satpaul Singh Johal, Ashman Khroad, Sia Lakhanpal, and Balbir Sohi.

All three incumbent Catholic board trustees, Anna da Silva, Darryl D’Souza and Shawn Xaviour, are running for re-election.

For an up to the minute list of candidates registering for the municipal election, click here, or follow my tweet thread. The deadline to register as a candidate is Friday, July 27 at 2 p.m.

We’ll keep you posted, too.

Municipal elections take place on October 22.

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