Alejandra Bravo (politician)
Canadian politician
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alejandra Bravo (born 1971) is a Canadian politician who was elected to represent Ward 9 Davenport on Toronto City Council in the 2022 municipal election. She currently serves as Chair of the City of Toronto's Economic & Community Development Committee.[1]
Alejandra Bravo | |
|---|---|
| Toronto City Councillor for Ward 9 Davenport | |
| Assumed office November 15, 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Ana Bailão |
| Chair of Economic & Community Development Committee | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1971 (age 54–55) |
| Party | Independent |
Other political affiliations | New Democratic |
| Education | University of Toronto |
| Occupation |
|
| Website | www |
Early life and education
Bravo was born in Chile in 1971. She lived in Santiago until 1973, when the 1973 Chilean coup d'état forced her family to Canada.[2]
She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Latin American studies from the University of Toronto,[3] before attending the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education to earn a Master of Arts in Adult Education and Community Development.[4]
Career
Prior to her election to council, Bravo worked as manager of leadership and learning for the Maytree Foundation,[3] and as director of leadership and training at the Broadbent Institute.[5][4]
Political career
Early campaigns
Bravo has run in the former Ward 17 Davenport in the 2003 Toronto municipal election,[6] the 2006 Toronto municipal election[7] and the 2014 Toronto municipal election,[8] finishing in second place all three times behind Cesar Palacio. She did not run in the 2010 Toronto municipal election, instead endorsing Jonah Schein as a challenger to Palacio.[9]
She ran as a New Democratic Party candidate in Davenport in the 2021 Canadian federal election,[10] losing to Julie Dzerowicz by a 76-vote margin so narrow that it was verified in a judicial recount.[11]
2022 Toronto election
Ward 9 Councillor Ana Bailão announced that she would not be seeking re-election after serving on council for 12 years, leaving the seat in Davenport open for the 2022 election.[12] Bravo joined the race on July 5, 2022,[13] and ran on a platform which included ending exclusionary zoning, building affordable housing, providing stronger tenant protections, improving transit and building more cycling infrastructure.[14] She received endorsements from the Toronto Star,[15] the city's largest newspaper and Progress Toronto,[13] a left-wing advocacy group.
Following the election on October 24, Bravo won the ward with over 70 percent of the vote.[14][16] She took office on November 15, 2022.[17]
Toronto City Councillor
In November 2022, Bravo was appointed to sit on several committees including General Government Committee, Budget Committee, Board of Health, and the Toronto Preservation Board.[18] She was elected as Vice Chair of the Board of Health.[19]
After the 2023 mayoral by-election won by Mayor Olivia Chow, Bravo was appointed by Chow to serve as Chair of the Economic & Community Development Committee, one of the four standing committees of Toronto City Council. During the post by-election appointment shuffle, she was also appointed Vice Chair of Striking Committee,[20] Chair of the Toronto Francophone Affairs Advisory Committee, as a member of Executive Committee and the Toronto Arts Council,[21] and remained the Vice Chair of the Board of Health.
Electoral history
Federal elections
| 2021 Canadian federal election: Davenport | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Julie Dzerowicz | 19,930 | 42.13 | -1.59 | $101,254.58 | |||
| New Democratic | Alejandra Bravo | 19,854 | 41.97 | +0.95 | $102,816.01 | |||
| Conservative | Jenny Kalimbet | 4,774 | 10.09 | +0.84 | $6,403.32 | |||
| People's | Tara Dos Remedios | 1,499 | 3.17 | +2.24 | $3,001.04 | |||
| Green | Adrian Currie | 1,087 | 2.30 | -2.21 | $14,660.32 | |||
| Independent | Troy Young | 86 | 0.18 | none listed | ||||
| Independent | Chai Kalevar | 77 | 0.16 | +0.01 | none listed | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 47,307 | 99.10 | – | $109,525.37 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 429 | 0.90 | +0.12 | |||||
| Turnout | 47,736 | 61.07 | -4.26 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 78,167 | |||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[22][23] | ||||||||
Municipal elections
| 2022 Toronto municipal election, Ward 9 Davenport | ||
| Candidate | Votes | Vote share |
|---|---|---|
| Alejandra Bravo | 17,009 | 70.72 |
| Grant Gonzales | 3,192 | 13.27 |
| Shaker Jamal | 1,414 | 5.88 |
| Allie Spencer | 882 | 3.67 |
| Steven Leca | 675 | 2.81 |
| Simon Fogel | 381 | 1.58 |
| Jacob Maydansky | 207 | 0.86 |
| Mosea Houghron | 151 | 0.63 |
| Lazare Shorter | 139 | 0.58 |
| Total | 24,050 | 100% |
| Source: City of Toronto[24] | ||
| 2014 Toronto municipal election, Ward 17 Davenport | ||
| Candidate Name | Number of votes | % of votes |
|---|---|---|
| Cesar Palacio | 8,293 | 46.24 |
| Alejandra Bravo | 7,840 | 43.71 |
| Saeed Selvam | 1,404 | 7.83 |
| George Stevens | 398 | 2.22 |
| Total | 17,935 | 100 |
| 2006 Toronto municipal election, Ward 17 Davenport | ||
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| Cesar Palacio (incumbent) | 4827 | 42.3 |
| Alejandra Bravo | 4546 | 39.8 |
| Fred Dominelli | 1491 | 13.1 |
| Cinzia Scalabrini | 211 | 1.9 |
| David Faria | 206 | 1.8 |
| Gustavo Valdez | 77 | 0.7 |
| Wilson Basantes Espinoza | 50 | 0.4 |
| 2003 Toronto municipal election, Ward 17 Davenport | ||
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| Cesar Palacio | 5,127 | 44.99 |
| Alejandra Bravo | 4,336 | 38.05 |
| David Senater | 940 | 8.24 |
| Romolo Cimaroli | 530 | 4.65 |
| Nicolo Fortunato | 461 | 4.04 |