2014 York Region municipal elections explained

Elections in the Regional Municipality of York of Ontario, Canada were held on October 27, 2014 in conjunction with municipal elections across the province.

Election Name:	2014 York Region municipal election
Type:	Regional Municipality
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	2010 York Region municipal elections
Previous Year:	2010
Next Election:	2018 York Region municipal elections
Next Year:	2018
Election Date:	October 27, 2014
Council

York Regional Council

Position	Representing	Councillor	Notes
Chair	(selected by council)	Wayne Emmerson	former Mayor of Whitchurch-Stouffville
Councillor	Aurora	Geoffrey Dawe	Mayor of Aurora
Councillor	East Gwillimbury	Virginia Hackson	Mayor of East Gwillimbury
Councillor	Georgina	Margaret (Jordan) Quirk	Mayor of Georgina
Councillor	Georgina	Danny Wheeler
Councillor	King	Steve Pellegrini	Mayor of King
Councillor	Markham		Mayor of Markham
Councillor	Markham	Jack Heath
Councillor	Markham
Councillor	Markham	Joe Li
Councillor	Markham	Nirmala Armstrong
Councillor	Newmarket		Mayor of Newmarket
Councillor	Newmarket	John Taylor
Councillor	Richmond Hill		Mayor of Richmond Hill
Councillor	Richmond Hill	Vito Spatafora
Councillor	Richmond Hill	Brenda Hogg
Councillor	Vaughan		Mayor of Vaughan
Councillor	Vaughan
Councillor	Vaughan	Gino Rosati
Councillor	Vaughan	Sunder Singh	^[1]
Councillor	Whitchurch–Stouffville	Justin Altmann	Mayor of Whitchurch–Stouffville

Returning candidates who stood for election included Heath (Markham), Jones (Markham) and Li (Markham). Long-time Markham councillor Landon and current Chair Bill Fisch did not return to council.

Aurora

Mayoral candidate ^[2]	Vote^[3]	%
Geoffrey Dawe (X)	8,903	68.44
John Gallo	4,106	31.56

East Gwillimbury

Mayoral candidate ^[4]	Vote^[5]	%
Virginia Hackson (X)	4,068	58.41
Cathy Morton	2,897	41.59

Georgina

Mayoral candidate ^[6]	Vote^[7] ^[8]	%
Margaret (Jordan) Quirk	7,226	58.86
Robert Grossi (X)	4,618	37.62
John Ancuta	367	2.99

Markham

Mayor

Mayoral candidate	Votes	Vote %	Vote Δ(%)	Election spending
Frank Scarpitti (X)	50,065	70.97	-14.15
Stephen Kotyck	10,683	15.14	+6.41
Patrick Cottrell	3,621	5.13
Partap Dua	3,326	4.71	-1.43
James Treacy	2,850	4.04

On October 16, 2014, Treacy 'withdrew' from the race and endorsed Kotyck.^[10] However his name still appeared on the ballot as his 'withdrawal' was past the deadline.

Regional Councillor

In Markham, Regional Councillors serve on both the City Council as well as York Region Council. Electors can vote for up to four candidates on their ballots, equal to the total number that may be elected. The four winning candidates are those whom receive the highest number of votes. The candidate with the highest number of votes received also serves as Deputy Mayor.

Regional councillor candidate	Votes	Vote %	Vote Δ(%)	Election spending
Jack Heath (X)	37,668	16.67	-3.41%
Jim Jones (X)	33,119	14.65	-0.24%
Joe Li (X)	29,247	12.94	-1.44%
Nirmala Armstrong (X)	23,834	10.54	-1.90%
Sophia Sun	16,931	7.49
Peter Pavlovic	16,413	7.26	-1.93%
Ivy Lee	15,799	6.99
Bin Chang	14,863	6.58
Charles Deacon	14,042	6.21
Tammy Mok	11,827	5.23
Nadeem Qureshi	7,315	3.24
Surinder Issar	4,971	2.20	-0.85%

Incumbents Jack Heath, Jim Jones, and Joe Li sought re-election, while Gordon Landon announced his retirement before the close of nominations.

The election returned all standing incumbents to office. Landon's vacated seat was won by Nirmala Armstrong.

Ward 1

Councillor candidate	Votes	Vote %	Election spending
Valerie Burke (X)	7,055	71.48
Howard Ian Shore	2,815	28.52

Markham reviewed the boundaries of its ward system in 2013. In an attempt to balance the City's electoral districts to match current population and growth patterns, it merged Thornhill's two wards into one. As a result, incumbents Burke and Shore ran against each other to represent the new ward.

Ward 2

Councillor candidate	Votes	Vote %	Election spending
Alan Ho (X)	2,932	39.29
Jim Kwan	1,905	25.53
David Papadimitriou	1,693	22.69
Daphne Wong	933	12.50

New Ward 2 created for 2014 from former Ward 6 with old Ward 6 councillor Alan Ho running. David Papadimitriou and Jim Kwan ran in old Ward 6 in last election.

Ward 3

Councillor candidate	Votes	Vote %	Vote Δ(%)	Election spending
Don Hamilton (X)	6,212	74.17	+8.55
Nelson Cheng	604	7.21
Vincent Cheung	592	7.07
Christine Brawley	465	5.55
Adam Poon	330	3.94
Jawed Syed	172	2.05

The boundaries of the ward were left unchanged after the 2013 review. Incumbent Don Hamilton faced a wider field of challengers, none of which stood against him in 2010.

Ward 4

Councillor candidate	Votes	Vote %	Election spending
Karen Rea (X)	4,754	42.89
Carolina Moretti	3,158	28.49
Neil Thomas	1,941	17.51
Stephen McLeod	1,231	11.11

Ward 4 is newly created from former parts of old Ward 4 and 6. Phil Richardson has withdrawn from the race in Ward 4.

Ward 5

Councillor candidate	Votes	Vote %	Election spending
Colin Campbell (X)	3,527	55.21
Raj Subramaniam	1,313	20.55
Compass Chung	855	13.38
John Egsgard	567	8.88
Siva Sivagnanam	126	1.97

Ward 5 boundaries changed from 2010 with parts of former Ward 4.

Ward 6

Councillor candidate	Votes	Vote %	Election spending
Amanda Yeung-Collucci (X)	1,683	25.86
Benson Lau	1,442	22.16
Cliff Redford	1,092	16.78
Raymond Miu	934	14.35
Gin Siow	990	15.21
Zach Armstrong	366	5.62

Ward 6 is newly created from parts of old Wards 4 and 6. All new candidates as current Ward 6 councillor Alan Ho ran in the new Ward 2 and current Ward 4 Councillor Carolina Moretti ran in the new ward 4. Siow ran in the old Ward 4 in last election.

Ward 7

Councillor candidate	Votes	Vote %	Vote Δ(%)	Election spending
Logan Kanapathi (X)	5,673	48.25	+12.04
Khalid Usman	3,539	30.10
Shusmita Sharma	1,308	11.12
Sothy Sella	1,078	9.17
Vasu Murugesu	160	1.36

The ward boundaries were unchanged following the 2013 review. Khalid Usman is former Ward 7 councillor and ran for Ward 6 in 2010 and as regional councillor in 2006.

Ward 8

Councillor candidate	Votes	Vote %	Election spending
Alex Chiu (X)	2,828	30.54
Isa Lee	2,692	29.07
Joseph (Mohan) Remisiar	2,238	24.17
Miriam Ku	759	8.20
Peter Deboran	743	8.02

Ward 8 has new boundaries with parts transferred from old Wards 2 and 6.

Endorsements

Media

The Toronto Star endorsed Stephen Kotyck for Mayor^[11]

Community Groups

"Markham Residents for Responsible Community Planning" endorsed the following:^{[12] [13]}

• Mayor - Frank Scarpitti
• Regional Councillors - Jim Jones, Joe Li, Peter Pavlovic, Sophia Sun
• Ward 1 - Valerie Burke
• Ward 2 - No Endorsement
• Ward 3 - Don Hamilton
• Ward 4 - Neil Thomas
• Ward 5 - John Egsgard
• Ward 6 - Cliff Redford
• Ward 7 - Logan Kanapathi
• Ward 8 - Peter Deboran

"Markham Citizens Coalition for Responsive Government" endorsed:^{[12] [14]}

• Mayor - Stephen Kotyck
• Regional Councillors - Jack Heath, Jim Jones, Joe Li
• Ward 1 - Valerie Burke
• Ward 2 - Jim Kwan
• Ward 3 - Don Hamilton
• Ward 4 - Karen Rea
• Ward 5 - John Egsgard
• Ward 6 - Gin Siow
• Ward 7 - No Endorsement
• Ward 8 - Miriam Ku

Newmarket

Mayoral candidate ^[15]	Vote^[16]	%
Tony Van Bynen (X)	10,816	54.01
Chris Campbell	7,804	38.97
	1,407	7.03

Richmond Hill

As of September 2014, incumbent mayor Barrow is in court facing conflict on interest complaint and may be removed from office if found guilty, but the ruling may not be made until after the elections in October.^[17] Perrelli is incumbent Ward 2 councillor running as mayor.

Mayoral candidate ^[18] ^[19]	Vote	%
Dave Barrow (X)	23,397	63.74
Carmine Perrelli	12,320	33.56
Anastasios Baxevanidis	989	2.69

Vaughan

Mayor

Mayoral candidate ^[20]	Vote	%
Maurizio Bevilacqua (X)	43,894	78.41
Daniel De Vito	6,792	12.13
Paul Donofrio	4,440	7.93
Savino Quatela	852	1.52

Regional councillors

Regional councillor candidate ^[21]	Vote	%
Michael Di Biase (X)	29,296	21.82
	27,647	20.59
Gino Rosati (X)	26, 283	19.57
Deb Schulte (X)	22,206	16.54
Richard T. Lorello	12,577	9.37
Carrie Liddy	9,602	7.15
Max Power	6,668	4.97

Ward councillors

Ward 1 candidate ^[22]	Vote	%
Marilyn Iafrate (X)	5,466	42.17
Peter Meffe	3,659	28.23
Maria Gagliardi	2,294	17.70
Antony Niro	1,160	8.95
Muhammad Islam	383	2.95

Ward 2 candidate ^[23]	Vote	%
Tony Carella (X)	4,964	41.42
Nick Pinto	3,567	29.76
Frank Miele	1,442	12.03
Adriano Volpentesta	1,100	9.18
Marco Villella	573	4.78
Sam Acquaviva	338	2.82

Ward 3 candidate ^[24]	Vote	%
Rosanna DeFrancesca (X)	6,385	56.23
Lorenzo Catuzza	3,522	31.02
Francesco Ferraro	719	6.33
Nick Lima	384	3.38
Anthony Liberio	315	2.77

Ward 4 candidate ^[25]	Vote	%
Sandra Yeung Racco (X)	3,162	52.99
Styles Q. Weinberg	2,352	39.42
Jonathan Gorenstein	453	7.59

Ward 5 candidate ^[26]	Vote	%
Alan Shefman (X)	7,142	52.97
Josh Martow	6,341	47.03

Whitchurch–Stouffville

Incumbent mayor Wayne Emmerson did not run in 2014.^[27] Incumbent Ward 2 councillor Bannon was a mayoral candidate.

Mayoral candidate ^[28]	Vote^[29]	%
Justin Altmann	4,365	33.35
Phil Bannon	4,006	30.61
Richard Bartley	3,464	26.47
Arnold Neufeldt-Fast	1,047	8.00
Willie Reodica	205	1.57

Footnotes

^{[30] [31]}

Notes and References

1. On May 19, 2017, Michael Di Biase stepped down amidst sexual harassment allegations. He was replaced on June 28, 2017 by Sunder Singh in a council vote, and Mario Ferri took his place as Deputy Mayor.
2. Web site: Town of Aurora. Town.aurora.on.ca. 16 October 2014. 10 March 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140310131247/http://town.aurora.on.ca/aurora/candidates. live.
3. News: Dawe re-elected for second term; new and familiar faces join Council. Weir. Brock. 27 October 2014. 29 October 2014. 29 June 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160629125127/http://www.newspapers-online.com/auroran/?p=8674. live.
4. Web site: Certified List of Candidates . Eastgwillimbury.ca . 16 October 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141020225033/http://www.eastgwillimbury.ca/Government/EG_Vote_2014/Certified_List_of_Candidates.htm . October 20, 2014 .
5. Web site: 2014 Municipal Election Certified Results . Town of East Gwillimbury . 29 October 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141029224818/http://www.eastgwillimbury.ca/Government/EG_Vote_2014/2014_Municipal_Election_Certified_Results.htm . October 29, 2014 .
6. Web site: Corporation of the Town of Georgina Official Website . Georgina.ca . 16 October 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141022131509/http://georgina.ca/pn-election-list-of-nominees.aspx . October 22, 2014 .
7. News: Quirk knocks off 5-time mayor Grossi in Georgina. Riedner. Heidi. Georgina Advocate. 27 October 2014. 29 October 2014. 1 November 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141101041844/http://www.yorkregion.com/news-story/4947517-quirk-knocks-off-5-time-mayor-grossi-in-georgina. live.
8. Web site: Certificate of Election Results . Town of Georgina . 27 October 2014 . 29 October 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141029225329/http://georgina.ca/PDF/elections/2014-cert-election-results.pdf . October 29, 2014 .
9. Web site: 2014 Election. King.ca. 16 October 2014. 13 September 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140913101641/http://www.king.ca/Government/2014%20Election/Pages/2014-Candidates-.aspx. live.
10. News: Bartholet. Brenda. Markham mayoral hopeful Treacy joins rival Kotyck's campaign team. 26 October 2014. Markham Economist and Sun. Metroland Media. 16 October 2014. 26 October 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141026233419/http://www.yorkregion.com/news-story/4916992-markham-mayoral-hopeful-treacy-joins-rival-kotyck-s-campaign-team/. live.
11. News: Time to oust Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti in York: Editorial. 26 October 2014. Toronto Star. Toronto Star Newspapers. 26 October 2014. 26 October 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141026233327/http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2014/10/26/time_to_oust_markham_mayor_frank_scarpitti_in_york_editorial.html. live.
12. News: O'Neil. Bernie. Markham groups offer candidate endorsements. 26 October 2014. Markham Economist and Sun. Metroland Media. 23 October 2014. 26 October 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141026233609/http://www.yorkregion.com/news-story/4941313-markham-groups-offer-candidate-endorsements/. live.
13. Web site: MRRCP Review of 2014 Markham Candidates for Council: Our Recommendations on Candidates by Position and Ward. October 17, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141026214924/http://app.streamsend.com/ss/1/78j5yd4a6w/1webdwfh3x . October 26, 2014 . Markham Residents for Responsible Community Planning .
14. Web site: Candidate Endorsement - MCCRG | Markham Citizens Coalition for Responsive Government. 21 October 2014. 26 October 2014. 26 October 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141026224842/http://mccrg.org/candidate-endorsement/. live.
15. Web site: 2014 Registered Candidates . Newmarket.ca . 16 October 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141022071644/http://www.newmarket.ca/en/townhall/2014RegisteredCandidates.asp . October 22, 2014 .
16. News: Newmarket Mayor Tony Van Bynen, Regional Councillor John Taylor convincingly win re-election. Simon. Chris. Newmarket Era. 27 October 2014. 29 October 2014. 28 October 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141028083501/http://www.yorkregion.com/news-story/4947524-newmarket-mayor-tony-van-bynen-regional-councillor-john-taylor-convincingly-win-re-election/. live.
17. News: Richmond Hill mayoral story slides under the radar. Toronto Sun. 16 October 2014. 11 November 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141111004538/http://www.torontosun.com/2014/09/09/richmond-hill-mayoral-story-slides-under-the-radar. live.
18. Web site: Town of Richmond Hill: 2014 Municipal Election: "Unofficial" List of Candidates - By Office . Markham.ca . https://web.archive.org/web/20141023231728/http://www.richmondhill.ca/documents/2014_master_unofficial_candidate_list.pdf . October 23, 2014 . dead.
19. Web site: Richmond Hill Unofficial 2014 Municipal Election Results . October 28, 2014 . Town of Richmond Hill . October 29, 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141029184725/http://www.richmondhill.ca/documents/Election_Results_Unofficial.pdf .
20. Web site: List of Nominated Candidates for the 2014 Municipal Elections. City of Vaughan. October 16, 2014. October 20, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141020115729/https://www.vaughan.ca/elections/General%20Documents/List%20of%20Nominated%20Candidates%20Municipal%20Elections%202014.pdf. live.
21. Web site: Election results - 2014 - Poll by Poll.xlsx . https://web.archive.org/web/20151126061235/https://www.vaughan.ca/elections/General%20Documents/Results/Election%20Results%20-%202014%20-%20Poll%20by%20Poll%20-%20Local%20and%20Regional.pdf . dead. November 26, 2015. City of Vaughan. July 23, 2018.
22. Web site: Election results - 2014 - Poll by Poll.xlsx . https://web.archive.org/web/20180723165656/https://www.vaughan.ca/elections/General%20Documents/Results/Election%20Results%20-%202014%20-%20Poll%20by%20Poll%20-%20Ward%201.pdf. dead. 23 July 2018. Vaughan.ca . July 23, 2018.
23. Web site: Election results - 2014 - Poll by Poll.xlsx . https://web.archive.org/web/20180723221750/https://www.vaughan.ca/elections/General%20Documents/Results/Election%20Results%20-%202014%20-%20Poll%20by%20Poll%20-%20Ward%202.pdf. dead. July 23, 2018. Vaughan.ca .
24. Web site: Election results - 2014 - Poll by Poll.xlsx. https://web.archive.org/web/20180723222130/https://www.vaughan.ca/elections/General%20Documents/Results/Election%20Results%20-%202014%20-%20Poll%20by%20Poll%20-%20Ward%203.pdf . dead. July 23, 2018. Vaughan.ca.
25. Web site: Election results - 2014 - Poll by Poll.xlsx. https://web.archive.org/web/20180723234531/https://www.vaughan.ca/elections/General%20Documents/Results/Election%20Results%20-%202014%20-%20Poll%20by%20Poll%20-%20Ward%204.pdf. dead. July 23, 2018. Vaughan.ca.
26. Web site: Election results - 2014 - Poll by Poll.xlsx. https://web.archive.org/web/20180724015027/https://www.vaughan.ca/elections/General%20Documents/Results/Election%20Results%20-%202014%20-%20Poll%20by%20Poll%20-%20Ward%205.pdf. dead. July 24, 2018. Vaughan.ca.
27. Web site: Mutual admiration for retiring mayor. Yorkregion.com. October 16, 2014. September 7, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200907191501/https://www.yorkregion.com/opinion-story/4294885-mutual-admiration-for-retiring-mayor/. live.
28. Web site: Elections. Townofws.ca. 16 October 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141003011230/http://www.townofws.ca/en/town-hall/elections.asp. 3 October 2014. dead.
29. Web site: 2014 Municipal election - Official results. Town of Whitchurch–Stouffville. October 28, 2014. October 29, 2014. October 29, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141029212318/http://www.townofws.ca/en/News/index.aspx?newsId=774ec8ba-0ac9-4ca6-9a1d-43efe4eed8a4. live.
30. Web site: Vaughan council chooses Sunder Singh to replace ex-councillor Di Biase . https://web.archive.org/web/20180723174537/https://www.yorkregion.com/news-story/7397357-vaughan-council-chooses-sunder-singh-to-replace-ex-councillor-di-biase/ . dead . July 23, 2018 . www.yorkregion.com . en-CA.
31. Web site: Former Vaughan councillor Di Biase used influence to help developer: report . https://web.archive.org/web/20171002023552/https://www.yorkregion.com/news-story/7360529-former-vaughan-councillor-di-biase-used-influence-to-help-developer-report/ . dead . October 2, 2017 . www.yorkregion.com . July 23, 2018 . en-CA.