Stephen Holyday
Canadian politician
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Stephen Holyday is a Canadian politician who has served on Toronto City Council since 2014 and currently represents Ward 2 Etobicoke Centre.[1][2] He was first elected in the old Ward 3 Etobicoke Centre during the 2014 municipal election.
Stephen Holyday | |
|---|---|
| Deputy Speaker of Toronto City Council | |
| In office November 23, 2022 – August 8, 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Shelley Carroll |
| Succeeded by | Paula Fletcher |
| Toronto City Councillor for Ward 2 Etobicoke Centre | |
| Assumed office December 1, 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Ward created |
| Toronto City Councillor for Ward 3 Etobicoke Centre | |
| In office December 1, 2014 – December 1, 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Peter Leon |
| Succeeded by | Ward abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1975 or 1976 (age 49–50) |
| Spouse | Margaret Holyday |
| Children | 3 |
| Parent |
|
Background
Holyday was born in Toronto, Ontario. He is the son of Doug Holyday, who was the previous ward councilor, Mayor of Etobicoke,[3] and briefly a member of Provincial Parliament (MPP).[4][5] He and his wife Margaret have three children.[6]
He graduated from Ryerson University with a Bachelor of Technology in Architectural Science.[7] From 1999 to 2014, he was a manager at the provincial Ministry of Energy.[7][8]
Politics
Holyday is a fiscal conservative.[9] He describes himself as taking "a tough stance against congestion causing initiatives", including the Eglinton Crosstown LRT and the King Street Transit Priority Corridor.[2] He opposes building new bike lanes and new multi-unit housing in neighbourhoods that consist of single-family homes.[9]
Alex Bozikovic, The Globe and Mail's architecture critic, called Holyday "furiously anti-development".[10] He has also been described as one of "three Toronto councillors hopelessly exacerbating the housing crisis" by More Neighbours Toronto.[11]
Holyday is often an outlier among city councillors, and has been the only dissenting vote on dozens of council votes.[12]
He endorsed Mark Saunders in the 2023 Toronto mayoral by-election.[13]
Election results
| 2022 Toronto election, Ward 2 | ||
| Stephen Holyday (X) | 18,559 | 72.28 |
| Thomas Yanuziello | 2,653 | 10.33 |
| Catherine Habus | 2,218 | 9.03 |
| Maryam Hashimi | 1,591 | 6.20 |
| Sam Raufi | 557 | 2.17 |
Both Holyday and John Campbell were incumbents in the 2018 Toronto election because Ward 2 and Ward 3 were merged into a single ward.
| 2018 Toronto election, Ward 2[citation needed] | ||
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| Stephen Holyday | 14,627 | 38.58% |
| John Campbell | 13,441 | 35.45% |
| Angelo Carnevale | 5,735 | 15.13% |
| Erica Kelly | 3,854 | 10.16% |
| Bill Boersma | 258 | .68% |
| Total | 22,119 | 100% |
| 2014 Toronto election, Ward 3[14] | ||
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| Stephen Holyday | 8,086 | 36.557% |
| Annette Hutcheon | 5,135 | 23.215% |
| John Moskalyk | 2,701 | 12.211% |
| George Bauk | 1,611 | 7.283% |
| Dean French | 1,399 | 6.325% |
| Greg Comeau | 1,100 | 4.973% |
| Peter Fenech | 1,025 | 4.634% |
| Roberto Alvarez | 552 | 2.496% |
| Paola Bauer | 313 | 1.415% |
| Frank D'Urzo | 197 | 0.891% |
| Total | 22,119 | 100% |
