Joe Pantalone
Encyclopedia
Joe Pantalone is a former Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 politician, city councillor for Ward 19, one of two wards in Trinity—Spadina
Trinity—Spadina
Trinity—Spadina is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1988.It generally encompasses the western portion of Downtown Toronto. In the 2001 Canadian census, the riding had 106,094 people, of whom 74,409 were eligible to...

. He served as deputy mayor
Deputy Mayor
Deputy mayor is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official in many local governments. Many elected deputy mayors are members of the city council who are given the title and serve as acting mayor in the mayor's absence...

 under David Miller from 2003 to 2010. He ran for mayor in the 2010 municipal election but lost to Rob Ford
Rob Ford
Robert Bruce "Rob" Ford is the 64th and current Mayor of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was first elected to city council in the 2000 Toronto municipal election, and was re-elected to his council seat in 2003 and again in 2006...

.

Early life

Born in the town of Racalmuto
Racalmuto
Racalmuto is a comune in the Province of Agrigento in the Italian Autonomous Region of Sicily, located about 90 km southeast of Palermo and about 15 km northeast of Agrigento.Racalmuto borders the following municipalities: Bompensiere, Canicattì, Castrofilippo, Favara,...

, Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 to a sharecropping
Sharecropping
Sharecropping is a system of agriculture in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crop produced on the land . This should not be confused with a crop fixed rent contract, in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a fixed amount of...

 father, Joe Pantalone is the second oldest of 7 children. Pantalone, who is also often referred to as "Joey Pants", immigrated to Canada with his family at age thirteen. His father was a "pick and shovel" man who earned his living building the Toronto subway system, and his mother was a seamstress. He attended Harbord Collegiate Institute
Harbord Collegiate Institute
Harbord Collegiate Institute is a public secondary school located in downtown Toronto, Canada. Specifically, the school is located in the Palmerston-Little Italy/The Annex neighbourhood, situated on the north side of Harbord Street, between Euclid Ave. and Manning St...

 where he was elected Student Council President. He then obtained a geography degree from the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...

.

Before entering politics Pantalone was active as a community legal worker for the unemployed and a vocational counsellor.

City Councillor

Entering politics, Pantalone lost four bids for a municipal seat before finally winning in the 1980 municipal election
Toronto municipal election, 1980
The 1980 Toronto municipal election was held on November 10, 1980 in Metropolitan Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Mayors, controllers, city councillors and school board trustees were elected in the municipalities of Toronto, York, East York, North York, Etobicoke and Scarborough.Art Eggleton narrowly...

. In the 1987 provincial election
Ontario general election, 1987
The Ontario general election of 1987 was held on September 10, 1987, to elect members of the 34th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada.The governing Ontario Liberal Party, led by David Peterson, was returned to power with a large majority...

, he ran as an Ontario New Democratic Party
Ontario New Democratic Party
The Ontario New Democratic Party or , formally known as New Democratic Party of Ontario, is a social democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. It is a provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party. It was formed in October 1961, a few months after the federal party. The ONDP had its...

 candidate in the riding of Fort York
Fort York (electoral district)
Fort York was a provincial electoral district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was created in 1987 and was subsequently abolished in 1999 when the ridings were redistributed to match their federal counterparts. The riding had only two representatives:...

. He lost a very close race to Liberal
Ontario Liberal Party
The Ontario Liberal Party is a provincial political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. It has formed the Government of Ontario since the provincial election of 2003. The party is ideologically aligned with the Liberal Party of Canada but the two parties are organizationally independent and...

 candidate Bob Wong
Bob Wong
Robert Charles Wong is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1987 to 1990, serving as a cabinet minister in the provincial government of David Peterson....

 by only 137 votes. In 1985, Pantalone was successful in his bid to be elected to the Metropolitan Toronto
Metropolitan Toronto
The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was a senior level of municipal government in the Toronto, Ontario, Canada area from 1954 to 1998. It was created out of York County and was a precursor to the later concept of a regional municipality, being formed of smaller municipalities but having more...

 council. He ran for the chair of Metro Council in 1991 and 1994, but he lost both times to Alan Tonks
Alan Tonks
Alan Tonks is a Canadian politician. He was the Liberal MP for the federal electoral district of York South—Weston in Toronto from 2000 to 2011, and was the final Metro Toronto Chairman before the amalgamation of Metro Toronto into the new City of Toronto.-Background:Tonks is the son of the late...

. On council, his most prominent role was as chairman of Exhibition Place
Exhibition Place
Exhibition Place is a mixed-use district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, by the shoreline of Lake Ontario, just west of downtown. The 197–acre area includes expo, trade, and banquet centres, theatre and music buildings, monuments, parkland, sports facilities, and a number of civic, provincial,...

  and he is often credited with bringing the facility that was in deficit in 1999 to the point of fiscal stability, as it is today.

The 1997 amalgamation election
Toronto municipal election, 1997
The 1997 Toronto municipal election was the first election held for offices in the amalgamated "megacity" of Toronto, Canada. The elections were administered by the old City of Toronto and its five suburbs within Metropolitan Toronto...

, so-called because of the forced amalgamation of all the municipalities that made up Metropolitan Toronto
Metropolitan Toronto
The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was a senior level of municipal government in the Toronto, Ontario, Canada area from 1954 to 1998. It was created out of York County and was a precursor to the later concept of a regional municipality, being formed of smaller municipalities but having more...

, saw Pantalone returned to Toronto City Council as the Councillor for Ward 20—Trinity Niagara
Toronto municipal election, 1997
The 1997 Toronto municipal election was the first election held for offices in the amalgamated "megacity" of Toronto, Canada. The elections were administered by the old City of Toronto and its five suburbs within Metropolitan Toronto...

, which was under the same boundaries as his previous Metro seat, during Mel Lastman
Mel Lastman
Melvin Douglas "Mel" Lastman , nicknamed "Mayor Mel", is a former businessman and politician. He is the founder of the Bad Boy Furniture chain. He served as the mayor of the former city of North York, Ontario, Canada from 1972 until 1997. At the end of 1997, North York, along with five other...

's term as Mayor of Toronto (1997–2003).

During his career, Pantalone served on numerous committees for Toronto City Council. He served as the Chair of the Planning and Transportation Committee under Mel Lastman, and was also a commissioner for the Toronto Transit Commission
Toronto Transit Commission
-Island Ferry:The ferry service to the Toronto Islands was operated by the TTC from 1927 until 1962, when it was transferred to the Metro Parks and Culture department. Since 1998, the ferry service is run by Toronto Parks and Recreation.-Gray Coach:...

. At that time Mel Lastman appointed him as "Tree Advocate", a title he gave up in 2006. He has also chaired various committees including Urban Environment and Development, Metro Drug Abuse Prevention Task Force, National Trade Centre Building Committee. He was the founder of the Toronto Parks and Trees Foundation.

Deputy Mayor

With the election of David Miller
David Miller (Canadian politician)
David Raymond Miller is a Canadian politician. He was the 63rd Mayor of Toronto and the second since the 1998 amalgamation. He was elected to the position in 2003 for a three-year term and re-elected in 2006 for a four-year term...

 as mayor in the 2003 election
Toronto municipal election, 2003
The Toronto municipal election of 2003 was held on November 10, 2003, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to elect the Mayor of Toronto, 44 city councillors, and school board trustees.David Miller was elected mayor ....

, Pantalone was appointed as one of three deputy mayor
Deputy Mayor
Deputy mayor is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official in many local governments. Many elected deputy mayors are members of the city council who are given the title and serve as acting mayor in the mayor's absence...

s. He retained this position alone after the 2006 election, while Mike Feldman
Mike Feldman
Michael "Mike" Feldman was city councillor for Ward 10 from 1992 to 2010, and former Deputy Mayor, of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Feldman was first elected in 1992 to the City Council of what was then the City of North York...

 was dropped and Sandra Bussin
Sandra Bussin
Sandra Bussin was a politician in Toronto, Canada. She was a municipal councillor for Toronto City Council representing Ward 32, an area called the Beaches. From 2006 to 2010 she was Speaker of Toronto City Council.-Background:...

 became speaker of city council.

As of 2010, Pantalone held positions such as the Chair of Exhibition Place, while Mayor Miller also appointed Pantalone to be Director of Toronto Hydro
Toronto Hydro
The Toronto Hydro-Electric System is the local distributor of electric power in the City of Toronto. In 2005 the utility served a peak load of over 5,000 MW and had nearly 600,000 residential and 70,000 commercial and industrial customers, and had around 1,600 employees. In 2005 the corporation...

 and the Vice-Chair of the Executive Committee. He is also a member of 11 community based Business Improvement Associations in the City of Toronto.

In 2006, Pantalone spent $248,817 in salary and benefits for his support staff, the second highest on council after Howard Moscoe
Howard Moscoe
Howard Moscoe was a city councillor in Toronto, Canada, representing Ward 15 in the western part of Eglinton-Lawrence. Among the most prominent and longest-serving councillors in the city, he is also known for an outspokenness which has landed him in controversy at times. Moscoe is a member of...

. He argued that he had executive assistants and both were very senior and so were paid more. In an interview, he stated "Historically, people have wanted to stay with me ... and I think the city got good value out of them. I like to be No. 1 in giving to the city, so sometimes it (means) No. 1 in expenses, too".

2010 mayoralty bid

Pantalone was a candidate for Mayor of Toronto
Toronto mayoral election, 2010
The 2010 Toronto mayoral election was held on October 25, 2010 to elect a mayor of the City of Toronto, Canada. The mayor's seat was open for the first time since the 2003 Toronto election due to the announcement by incumbent mayor David Miller that he will not seek a third term in office...

 in the 2010 municipal election
Toronto municipal election, 2010
The 2010 Toronto municipal election was held on October 25, 2010 to elect a mayor and 44 city councillors in Toronto, Canada. In addition, school trustees were elected to the Toronto District School Board, Toronto Catholic District School Board, Conseil scolaire de district du Centre-Sud-Ouest and...

. In his campaign, Pantalone highlighted his 29 years of experience in municipal politics compared to other candidates, saying, "People are looking around at the outsiders and think their experience does not match mine"; he also said the approach to the city's finances should be "clinical as opposed to a sledgehammer."
“I consider myself the heir of David Miller, Mel Lastman and Alan Tonks. In our society you build on the past,” he said. “(But) I am quite different than David Miller.”


Pantalone announced his bid in 2009 after incumbent David Miller
David Miller (Canadian politician)
David Raymond Miller is a Canadian politician. He was the 63rd Mayor of Toronto and the second since the 1998 amalgamation. He was elected to the position in 2003 for a three-year term and re-elected in 2006 for a four-year term...

 decided not to run. After Adam Giambrone
Adam Giambrone
Adam Giambrone is a Canadian politician who was a Toronto City Councillor, representing the southern of two Davenport wards. Elected at 26, he remained the youngest member of Toronto council after re-election. He is also a former president of the federal New Democratic Party...

 exited the race when a sex scandal undermined his campaign, this left Pantalone as the only major contender to represent the left against Rob Ford and George Smitherman
George Smitherman
George Smitherman is a Canadian politician and broadcaster. He represented the provincial riding of Toronto Centre in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1999 to 2010, when he resigned to contest the mayoralty of Toronto in the 2010 municipal election...

. Pantalone was endorsed by many left-wing politicians such as Jack Layton
Jack Layton
John Gilbert "Jack" Layton, PC was a Canadian social democratic politician and the Leader of the Official Opposition. He was the leader of the New Democratic Party from 2003 to 2011, and previously sat on Toronto City Council, serving at times during that period as acting mayor and deputy mayor of...

, the leader of Federal New Democratic Party, Stephen Lewis
Stephen Lewis
Stephen Henry Lewis, is a Canadian politician, broadcaster and diplomat. He was the leader of the social democratic Ontario New Democratic Party for most of the 1970s. During many of the those years as leader, his father David Lewis was simultaneously the leader of the Federal New Democratic Party...

 and Ed Broadbent
Ed Broadbent
John Edward "Ed" Broadbent, is a Canadian social democratic politician and political scientist. He was leader of the federal New Democratic Party from 1975 to 1989. In the 2004 federal election, he returned to Parliament for one additional term as the Member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre.-Life...

.

On October 6, 2010 outgoing Toronto mayor David Miller
David Miller (Canadian politician)
David Raymond Miller is a Canadian politician. He was the 63rd Mayor of Toronto and the second since the 1998 amalgamation. He was elected to the position in 2003 for a three-year term and re-elected in 2006 for a four-year term...

 announced that he would be supporting Pantalone

Pantalone's campaign emphasized continuance of the existing plans of the current administration, with particular focus on large scale transit expansion in the form of the Transit City
Transit City
Transit City was a plan for developing public transport in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was first proposed and announced by then-Toronto Mayor David Miller and Chair of the Toronto Transit Commission Adam Giambrone on March 16, 2007...

 initiative negotiated with the provincial Ontario government by the Miller administration. As well, Pantalone promised a number of small adjustments to the City of Toronto tax structures, such as reducing property tax for condominium owners which he justified because he said they use less city services and “It’s only fair that their taxes be commensurate”, freezing property taxes for retirees earning less than $50,000 a year and eliminating an unpopular vehicle registration tax that he supported as a councillor and Deputy Mayor for David Miller. On his promise to freeze property taxes for seniors, Pantalone expressed the opinion that the loss of this revenue could be made up elsewhere, saying: "If you distribute that across the whole tax base, people won’t even know that it has happened".

He also promised to build a world standard professional cricket pitch modeled on the BMO Field
BMO Field
BMO Field is a Canadian soccer stadium located in Exhibition Place in the city of Toronto. The open-air structure can seat up to 21,800 spectators, depending on seating configurations. It is owned by the City of Toronto, and managed by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd...

 which he helped bring to the CNE fair grounds. Pantalone claimed that he was “no clone of David Miller”, nonetheless his platform largely continued the status quo with Miller's policies. Pantalone said that Toronto is a “garden”, and that Ford and Smitherman would endanger it. Pantalone stated “I want to prune, trim and shape. I don’t want to do major surgical limb cuts. If you want that, call Mr. Ford,” who is a “bulldozer” while Smitherman is an “axe” and a “diminisher.”" Pantalone was also the only candidate who rejected contracting out more services now done by city employees. However, several pundits suggested that Pantalone had largely misread the electorate, as a Nanos Research poll showed that a combined 83% of decided voters supported mayoral candidates who advocated sweeping changes.

Pantalone never managed to break the 20% threshold in opinion polls and he consistently polled in third place in the mid to low teens behind Smitherman and Ford.

In the final weeks of the campaign, speculation rose in the media that Pantalone might withdraw in order to solidify a vote behind his competitor Smitherman, in an effort to prevent the election of Ford. A handful of city councillors (Adam Vaughan
Adam Vaughan
Adam Vaughan is a councillor representing Ward 20 Trinity—Spadina in Toronto, Canada. For about 20 years, Vaughan worked as a political journalist and activist, most recently as the Political Specialist at Citytv/CP24. Before that, for ten years, he reported for CBLT in Toronto as a municipal...

 and fellow NDP members Joe Mihevc
Joe Mihevc
Joe Mihevc is a city councillor in Toronto, Canada. He represents one of the two St. Paul's wards, Ward 21 St. Paul's.-Background:...

 and Pam McConnell
Pam McConnell
Pam McConnell is a city councillor in Toronto, Canada for Ward 28 which is one of the two Toronto Centre wards.She was a teacher before entering politics by being elected as a school board trustee in 1982. She held that position until 1994. She played a prominent role in advocating for adult...

) who were long time allies on Pantalone in the Miller administration cast their lot in with Smitherman in an effort to sway voters to support a single winning candidate. Smitherman repeatedly asserted that "a vote for Joe Pantalone is a vote for Rob Ford", but Pantalone refused to bow out despite pressure. Smitherman left a voice-mail with Miller to ask Pantalone to withdraw from the race but Miller never returned the call. (Back in the 2003 mayoral election, Smitherman had worked for the campaign of Barbara Hall
Barbara Hall
Barbara Hall is a Canadian lawyer, public servant and former politician. She was the 61st mayor of Toronto, the last to run before amalgamation. She was elected mayor of the pre-amalgamation City of Toronto in 1994, and held office until December 31, 1997...

, which tried to persuade Miller to drop out of the race.)

The election night results suggests that it would have been unlikely that strategic voting would have prevented the eventual outcome because the combined vote for Pantalone and Smitherman total exceeded Ford's vote by only just under 2000 votes—victory for Smitherman would have required nearly unanimous support from Pantalone's 95,000 supporters. The election was something of a surprise because Ford captured a large 11% point lead over his nearest rival, Smitherman, when opinion polls had suggested they were neck and neck at the finish. Voter turnout was 13% higher than the previous election in 2006, indicating that voters were very interested in this hotly contested race.

Election results

Toronto mayoral election, 2010
Toronto mayoral election, 2010
The 2010 Toronto mayoral election was held on October 25, 2010 to elect a mayor of the City of Toronto, Canada. The mayor's seat was open for the first time since the 2003 Toronto election due to the announcement by incumbent mayor David Miller that he will not seek a third term in office...

Rob Ford 383,501 47.1%
George Smitherman 289,832 35.6%
Joe Pantalone 95,482 11.7%
All others 45,169 5.5%
Total 813,984 100.0%

Unofficial results as of October 26, 2010 03:55 AM, 1870 out of 1870 polls reporting.

External links

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