Mary Fragedakis
Canadian politician
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Mary Fragedakis (/ˌfræɡəˈdækɪs/ FRAG-ə-DAK-iss; born April 22, 1971)[1] is a Canadian politician who served as the Toronto city councillor for Ward 29 Toronto—Danforth from 2010 to 2018. She was also the Ontario Liberal Party candidate for Toronto—Danforth in the 2022 provincial election. Fragedakis has been the executive director of the GreekTown on the Danforth Business Improvement Area (BIA) since April 2019.
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Mary Fragedakis | |
|---|---|
Fragedakis in 2010 | |
| Toronto City Councillor for Ward 29 Toronto—Danforth | |
| In office December 1, 2010 – December 1, 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Case Ootes |
| Succeeded by | Ward dissolved |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 22, 1971 |
| Party | Ontario Liberal |
| Other political affiliations | New Democratic (2003–2010) |
| Education | University of Toronto (MA, 1996) |
| Website | maryfragedakis |
Early life and education
Fragedakis is the child of Greek immigrants, and spent her childhood in the Danforth community. She attended Wilkinson Public School, Earl Grey Senior Public School and Riverdale Collegiate Institute, before graduating from the University of Toronto in 1996 with a Master of Arts (MA) in political science.[2] Prior to her election, Fragedakis was involved for nine years with Open Dialogue, a conference and seminar organizing company and served as one of the founders of the Broadview Community Youth Group.
Political career
First term
Fragedakis was encouraged to run by former councillor and then-federal New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jack Layton, and contested the 2010 municipal election in Ward 29 to succeed retiring councillor Case Ootes.[3] She defeated Ootes' preferred candidate, Jane Pitfield, 41.8 per cent to 28 per cent.[4]
Second term
Fragedakis was re-elected as councillor for Ward 29 in the 2014 Toronto election with a significant plurality of over 60 per cent of the popular vote.[5]
Toronto Transit Commission Board
The Toronto City Council appointed Fragedakis to the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) Board in late 2016.[6] On the board she was a strong advocate for improving public transit. In 2017, she moved a motion to find the $1.2 million for the subway reliability program, which TTC CEO Andy Byford told council would help cut down on track-related subway delays by up to 30 per cent.“I think we owe it to subway users. I know they’ve put up with a lot of subway closures, they’ve put up with no air conditioning on subway cars, they’ve put up with trains too full to get on in the morning and other delays,” Mary Fragedakis.[7] During the city's 2018 budget process, she called for more money for the TTC to address overcrowding.[8]
Two-hour transfer policy
Along with Mayor John Tory and TTC Chair Josh Colle, Fragedakis advocated for the TTC's two-hour transfer policy.[9]
2018 election
In the 2018 municipal election, the Ward 29 was combined with the other Toronto—Danforth, Ward 30, forming the new Ward 14. Fragedakis ran again as councillor for the newly constituted ward, however, lost to Paula Fletcher who was the incumbent councillor for former Ward 30.[10]
After council
In April 2019 Fragedakis became the Executive Director of the GreekTown on the Danforth BIA.[11][12][13]
2022 Ontario election
Fragedakis announced in January 2022 she would seek the Ontario Liberal Party nomination for Toronto—Danforth in the upcoming 2022 provincial election.[14] She won the nomination on March 17.[15] In the election, she lost coming in second to NDP incumbent Peter Tabuns.[16]
Electoral history
| 2022 Ontario general election: Toronto—Danforth | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| New Democratic | Peter Tabuns | 22,890 | 55.39 | −8.85 | $112,989 | |||
| Liberal | Mary Fragedakis | 9,240 | 22.36 | +8.29 | $77,403 | |||
| Progressive Conservative | Colleen McCleery | 5,556 | 13.44 | −2.41 | $18,446 | |||
| Green | Marcelo Levy | 2,513 | 6.08 | +1.70 | $4,531 | |||
| New Blue | Milton Kandias | 515 | 1.25 | $9,594 | ||||
| Ontario Party | George Simopoulos | 232 | 0.56 | $0 | ||||
| None of the Above | Christopher Brophy | 201 | 0.49 | $0 | ||||
| Communist | Jennifer Moxon | 177 | 0.43 | +0.10 | $0 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 41,324 | 99.41 | +0.38 | $117,719 | ||||
| Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots | 244 | 0.59 | −0.38 | |||||
| Turnout | 41,568 | 49.44 | −12.14 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 83,888 | |||||||
| New Democratic hold | Swing | −8.57 | ||||||
Source(s)
| ||||||||
| 2018 Toronto municipal election, Ward 14 Toronto—Danforth | ||
| Candidate | Votes | Vote share |
|---|---|---|
| Paula Fletcher | 16,468 | 42.27% |
| Mary Fragedakis | 10,201 | 26.18% |
| Chris Budo | 7,394 | 18.98% |
| Lanrick Bennett | 1,935 | 4.97% |
| Dixon Chan | 1,100 | 2.82% |
| Chris Marinakis | 700 | 1.80% |
| Marisol D'Andrea | 429 | 1.10% |
| Ryan Lindsay | 413 | 1.06% |
| Lawrence Lychowyd | 188 | 0.48% |
| Alexander Pena | 131 | 0.34% |
| Total | 38,958 | 100% |
| Source: City of Toronto[17] | ||
| 2014 Toronto election, Ward 29 | ||
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| Mary Fragedakis | 11,904 | 59.34% |
| Dave Andre | 4,950 | 24.68% |
| John Papadakis | 2,000 | 9.97% |
| Ricardo Francis | 528 | 2.63% |
| Jimmy Vlachos | 428 | 2.13% |
| Hank Martyn | 249 | 1.24% |
| Total | 20,059 | 100% |
| 2010 Toronto election, Ward 29 | ||
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| Mary Fragedakis | 7,430 | 41.81% |
| Jane Pitfield | 4,966 | 27.94% |
| Jennifer Wood | 4,269 | 24.02% |
| Chris Caldwell | 885 | 4.98% |
| John Richardson | 138 | 0.77% |
| Mike Restivo | 81 | 0.45% |
| Total | 17,769 | 100% |
Official results.[18]
