Candidate: David White

Who are you?

I am a citizen of this City who has always played an active role in the discussion of public issues. I am presently a member of a number of community organizations and committees that are providing advice and comment to the City and to the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation on the future of our waterfront. In my day job, I advise psychiatric patients in hospitals and the community about their legal rights. I was previously a City Councillor.


Why are you running?

Toronto has lost its way in recent years. City Idol and the people associated with it combine the kind of creativity, activist posture, progressive outlook and irreverence that this city needs to turn things around. This is a new approach to stirring debate about our City’s future and I want to support City Idol by being an active participant in the debate.

Some issues that I think this City needs to address to ensure a positive future are:

• The growing divide between affluence and poverty along racial lines.
• The continuing dominance of the private automobile as the main means of transportation.
• The suppression of local democracy and the stifling of debate.
• Inadequate funding to support the public realm in all its manifestations.

What should a City Councillor be?

A primary role that a City Councillor should play is to welcome citizens into City Hall and into its processes so their voice are heard and acted upon. A City Councillor should demystify politics and help citizens break down the barriers to change. A City Councillor should act as a catalyst to citizens taking charge of their own future.


Anything else?

Thank-you City Idol for coming up with a clever way of creating buzz among people of all ages around the City of Toronto’s political discussion.

We need new leaders.