) is a city councillor in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Ward 9 representing one of the two York Centre

York Centre

York Centre is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1904 to 1917 and since 1953....

 wards.

Background

Augimeri moved to Canada with her family at age two. Before entering politics, she was a Social Anthropologist

Social anthropology

Social Anthropology is one of the four or five branches of anthropology that studies how contemporary human beings behave in social groups. Practitioners of social anthropology investigate, often through long-term, intensive field studies , the social organization of a particular person: customs,...

 at York University

York University

York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary university....

. An Italian-Canadian

Italian-Canadian

An Italian Canadian is a Canadian of Italian descent or heritage. According to the 2006 census of Canada, 1,445,335 Canadians consider themselves to be of Italian origin. The Italian-Canadian population climbed by more than 12% and half have combined Italian origins along with another ethnic...

, she has written three books on the Italian-Canadian community and is also a published poet.

Politics

She first entered politics as a school trustee, and was elected to the city council of North York in 1985. A left-leaning member of the council, she ran for the 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...

 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...

 in the riding of Downsview

Downsview (electoral district)

Downsview was a provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada. It was created for the 1963 provincial election, and was retained until redistribution in 1999...

. (Her husband, Odoardo Di Santo

Odoardo Di Santo

Odoardo Di Santo is a politician and administrator in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 1985, as a member of the New Democratic Party ....

, had held the riding for ten years before losing it in the 1985 election

Ontario general election, 1985

The Ontario general election of 1985 was held on May 2, 1985, to elect members of the 33rd Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada...

.) In very a close race, she lost 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...

 Laureano Leone

Laureano Leone

Laureano Leone is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1987 to 1990....

 by only 174 votes.

Augimeri was elected to the Metro Toronto council in 1988, and remained on that council until the creation of the new city of Toronto in 1997. She has been elected to the new city council three times. She is known for promoting environmental awareness and cultural issues.

She was endorsed for re-election by the Toronto Star

Toronto Star

The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...

newspaper in 2003, although the Star also accused her of "hypocrisy in fighting housing for homeless youth, despite her New Democratic Party roots."
Augimeri had previously introduced measures which held up a housing construction project. The left-leaning Now Magazine also gave her a tepid endorsement in 2000, describing her as a "do-nothing councillor", but also claiming she was better than the opposition.

Augimeri considered running for the federal New Democratic Party

New Democratic Party

The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...

 in York Centre

York Centre

York Centre is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1904 to 1917 and since 1953....

 in the 2004 federal election

Canadian federal election, 2004

The Canadian federal election, 2004 , was held on June 28, 2004 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority, but was able to form a minority government after the elections...

, but ultimately declined.

On November 21, 2006, Toronto's integrity commissioner "tentatively reached the conclusion" that Augimeri had committed discreditable conduct over voicemail comments she made about Councillor Peter Li Preti

Peter Li Preti

Peter Li Preti was a city councillor in Toronto, Canada, who represented one of the two York West wards from 1985 to 2006.-Background:Li Preti received a B.A. and M.A. at the University of Toronto and went on to complete a Masters of Education in School Psychology and Clinical Counselling...

. Augimeri said on the tape that Li Preti was unsuitable to be a councillor and alleged he was "being actively investigated by police".

On August 10, 2008, a massive propane explosion

2008 Toronto explosions

The Toronto propane explosion was a series of explosions and ensuing fire that took place on the morning of August 10, 2008, in the Downsview community of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The explosions occurred at the Sunrise Propane Industrial Gases propane facility in the Keele Street and Wilson...

 in Augimeri's riding destroyed a propane distribution facility which caused the evacuation of thousands of residents. Augimeri cut short a summer vacation in Italy and returned to Toronto to assist with the situation. During a press conference, she became involved in a heated discussion with Tony Di Santo, head of the local ratepayer's group. She said, "If people have problems of a partisan nature they should not be using the death of a firefighter... So shut up!" Later she apologized for losing her temper, "letting my anger" (get in the way) in her words.

2010 municipal election

The 2010 Toronto municipal election was held on October 25. Augimeri won by an 89 vote margin(0.7%) over local businessman Gus Cusimano. Augimeri thanked her supporters the following day on October 26, 2010 when she said, "I know a lot of the community voted for me because they know I'm the one to protect community interests."

Cusimano later announced that he would challenge the results. The matter was heard in court on March 29, 2011. The judge ruled that there were enough irregularities in the 2010 voting that the election should be held again. Initially the city's legal staff said they would be appealing the decision but on May 13 it was announced that the city would not launch an appeal. City Clerk, Uli Watkiss said in a statement, "The decision to proceed with a by-election and resolve this matter as quickly as possible is in the best interest of the public, the individuals directly affected, and the workings of Council." The mayor's office supported the decision. 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...

's press secretary Adrienne Batra said, "Obviously the mayor supported (Cusimano) during the general election and once the byelection gets under way he will be fully supporting him again."

On May 16, Augimeri announced that she would be appealing the decision herself. She said the by-election would cost $525,000.The cost of the ward 9 by-election is estimated at $175,000. The court decision also affected a school trustee election and that election would cost $350,000 since it spans two wards. She said, "The clerk’s advice not to appeal does harm to taxpayers as well as to the integrity of our electoral system." On August 4, the city reversed its decision and decided to join the appeal which will be held in September 2011.

Municipal

2010 Toronto election Toronto city council election, 2010 For information on the campaign for mayor see Toronto mayoral election, 2010The 2010 Toronto council election was held on October 25, 2010 to elect councillors to represent Toronto's 44 wards at Toronto City Council... , Ward 9
Candidate	Votes	%
Maria Augimeri	5,452	44.3
Gus Cusimano	5,363	43.6
Gianfranco Amendola	1,082	8.8
Wilson Basantes	259	2.1
Stefano Picone	142	1.2
Total	12,298	100

2006 Toronto election Toronto municipal election, 2006 The 2006 Toronto municipal election took place on 13 November 2006 to elect a mayor and 44 city councillors in Toronto, Ontario. 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... , Ward 9
Candidate	Votes	%
Maria Augimeri	7,256	77.6
Vlad Protsenko	2,100	22.4
Total	9,356	100

2003 Toronto 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 .... , Ward 9
Candidate	Votes	%
Maria Augimeri	7,898	74.1
Anna Oppedisano	1,061	9.9
Richard Baldachino	779	7.3
Annmarie Robb	487	4.5
Domenic D'Abruzzo	422	4.2
Total	10,647	100

2000 Toronto election Toronto municipal election, 2000 The Toronto municipal election of 2000, dubbed "Toronto Vote 2000" was the municipal and school board election held in the City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada on November 13, 2000.Elections were held to elect:* the Mayor of Toronto,* councillors for each of Toronto's 44 wards,* trustees... , Ward 9
Candidate	Votes	%
Maria Augimeri	8,698	72.3
Anna Oppedisano	2,816	23.4
Richard Baldachino	504	4.3
Total	12,018	100

Works

• Italian-Canadians, a cross section. 1978. National Congress of Italian-Canadians. Ottawa.
• Calabrese folklore. 1985. National Museums of Canada. Ottawa.

External links

• Maria Augimeri official website