Longtime councillor 'gravely ill': Tory

[spaminator]

Longtime councillor 'gravely ill': Tory
By Shawn Jeffords, Political Bureau Chief
First posted: Thursday, July 06, 2017 06:50 PM EDT | Updated: Thursday, July 06, 2017 06:53 PM EDT
Veteran city councillor Pam McConnell is “gravely ill,” Mayor John Tory said Thursday.
McConnell, who has been absent from this week’s council meeting, is in hospital, the mayor said during a press conference. Tory did not elaborate on her illness, but acknowledged that her family had given him permission to disclose the information.
“She’s very ill, but she’s a fighter and we’re all going to be rooting for her,” he said.
McConnell represents Ward 28 (Toronto Centre-Rosedale) and has been a long-time social justice advocate. She was first elected in 1994. In 2014, Tory named her one of four deputy mayors with a focus on anti-poverty initiatives.
“Pam McConnell is a person that I have grown to respect immensely,” he said. “I named her as a deputy mayor. I’m very fond of her and I’m very sad that she’s gravely ill.”
“I hope that the people of Toronto will join me in sending their thoughts and prayers to her and to her family,” he added.
Tory said McConnell’s family are encouraging people in the community to reach out to the councillor over e-mail if they want to pass along a message.
E-mails to the councillor can be sent to councillor_mcconnell@toronto.ca.
sjeffords@postmedia.com
Longtime councillor 'gravely ill': Tory | Toronto & GTA | News | Toronto Sun

 

[spaminator]

Deputy Mayor Pam McConnell dead at 71
By Shawn Jeffords, Political Bureau Chief
First posted: Friday, July 07, 2017 04:14 PM EDT | Updated: Friday, July 07, 2017 11:40 PM EDT
A long-time city councillor and anti-poverty crusader has died.
Deputy Mayor Pam McConnell, who served as councillor for Ward 28 (Toronto Centre-Rosedale), died suddenly Friday, after being hospitalized with a lung illness earlier this week. She was 71.
The veteran councillor’s passing rocked her colleagues, who were in mid-session when they received the news. The meeting broke briefly with stunned silence filling the chamber at City Hall, then interrupted only by loud sobs from some of her close friends weeping openly at their desks. Council re-grouped five minutes later, holding a minute of silence, before adjourning for the day.
Mayor John Tory broke the news to the public, offering a few brief words on McConnell. He praised her many accomplishments, such as leading the city’s poverty reduction strategy and helping make the revitalization of Regent Park a reality.
“We knew her as a women who proudly and enthusiastically and energetically served her city and the people of Toronto for more than 35 years,” he said. “I don’t think there is any question whatsoever that Toronto is a better and fairer place, thanks to her service.”
Councillor Paula Fletcher said McConnell had been struggling with lung and breathing problems for some time. She was admitted to hospital earlier this week with an unknown breathing condition and her status deteriorated. Her death is a shock to everyone, she said.
“Speaking on behalf of all my colleagues, our hearts are simply broken today that she left so quickly,” she said.
Fletcher spoke to reporters, surrounded by council colleagues, holding a picture of McConnell at the controls of a bulldozer. The picture was snapped at the start of the Regent Park revitalization.
“It was one of the most important projects in the city of Toronto and in the country of Canada,” Fletcher said. “She moved mountains in a quiet way in our city and she leaves a very, very, very big hole for all of us to fill.”
McConnell first entered public life in 1982 when she was elected to the Toronto District School Board. In 1994, she was elected to city council. Amongst McConnell’s more high-profile roles were her term as Toronto Police Services Board chairman from 2004 to 2005, and serving as one of the city’s deputy mayors since 2014.
In 2013, she was honoured with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for her decades of public service.
City flags will fly at half mast until the day of her funeral. That date has not been announced. A book of condolences has been set up at City Hall, which Tory was the first to sign.
sjeffords@postmedia.com
HOW POLITICIANS ARE REMEMBERING MCCONNELL:
“When you can emerge from a career as long in public life as she had and have as many friends as she has, that is a remarkable statement in and of itself.” - Mayor John Tory
“Pam was deeply loved by her community and deeply loved by her colleague councillors. There are many reasons for that. Certainly, among them are her passion for this city, her passion for children, her passion for social justice to build an inclusive and equitable Toronto.” - Councillor Joe Mihevc
“She always said we have to find the island. The place we can all agree on. So, I can’t tell you how many times we swam to an island with Pam. That, being all members of council, no matter which side you’re on.” - Councillor Paula Fletcher
Deputy Mayor Pam McConnell dead at 71 | Toronto & GTA | News | Toronto Sun

Pam McConnell

 

[spaminator]

McConnell a 'tough negotiator': Trump
By Joe Warmington, Toronto Sun
First posted: Saturday, July 08, 2017 02:19 PM EDT | Updated: Saturday, July 08, 2017 02:33 PM EDT
Councillor Pam McConnell did something Hillary Clinton and many others have tried so hard to achieve but couldn’t.
She got the better of Donald Trump.
And the president of the United States was the first to admit it.
“Pam was a tough negotiator, let me tell you,” Trump told me in 2012 with a chuckle, just four years out from his eventual run for the American presidency. “Very tough.”
Two iconic Toronto structures and two legendary politicians from different camps found a way to work together to make sure 325 Bay St. and 640 Dundas St. E. went from dreams to reality.
The first, until the sale of the building is finalized and the name comes off, is still called The Trump International Hotel and Tower.
The second is called the Regent Park Aquatic Centre. It’s in need of a name change too.
As they get ready to take the Trump name off one building, in light of McConnell passing at 71-years-old Friday after a short illness they surely must add her name to another.
It was classy of Mayor John Tory and council to dim the Toronto sign in her honour — the first of many tributes to the councillor who served 23 years. She has many legacies but this modern swimming pool is thanks to the one and only Pam McConnell, councillor from Ward 28, Toronto Centre-Rosedale.
“She was not going to let us build our tower unless this pool got built,” Trump said at the opening of Trump complex in 2012. “Isn’t that right Pam?”
Feisty McConnell just smiled. She knew she won.
When I asked Trump about it later, it was when I first learned of what is now common language in city development. A Section 37 compromise allows developers to pay for the erection of something else in exchange for more floors.
In fact, a news release from the pool’s 2012 opening said the following: “The Centre was jointly funded by the Government of Canada, the Government of Ontario and the City of Toronto. The federal and provincial governments contributed $1 million each, and the city contributed $14.6 million to this project. Of the city’s contribution, over $2 million was directed by Councillor McConnell through Section 37 funds.”
Trump said it was McConnell’s love of the Regent Park revitalization project that ultimately allowed he and his local partners Alex Schnaider and Talon to build the 65-storey skyscraper.
McConnell used Section 37 to help get that pool for her constituents.
“The Regent Park Aquatic Centre was made possible, first and foremost, because of our community,” said McConnell. “Many from outside the community who believe in the community played a vital role in this project. We are very grateful for the participation of the federal and provincial governments in making this possible.”
One of the many outsiders she was referring to was today’s U.S. president.
Trump told me he came from the right-leaning development side and McConnell from the more left-leaning social welfare side, and he had a tremendous respect for her.
“She is a terrific representant for her district,” said Trump. “They are very lucky to have her.”
They were.
Hopefully in her memory the Regent Park Aquatic Centre is soon renamed the Pam McConnell Aquatic Centre.
jwarmington@postmedia.com
McConnell a 'tough negotiator': Trump | WARMINGTON | Toronto & GTA | News | Toro

 

[Walter]

Just another leftie. RIP

 

[spaminator]

Honouring 'conscience' of city council | Toronto & GTA | News | Toronto Sun