What they said. What's true. What they can actually do.
City council · updated 13 Oct 2026
Ward 1 Etobicoke North
Who is running for Toronto City Council in Ward 1 Etobicoke North in the October 26, 2026 municipal election: how the 10 certified candidates differ, what they have committed to, and whether the City could deliver it. Information as of 13 Oct 2026.
10 candidates: Abraham Abbey, Ala'a Adib, Saima Babar, Chloe Brown, Vincent Crisanti, Norman Hamilton, Joseph Martino, Nathen Masri, Hard Parmar, Kristian Santos. Incumbent: Vincent Crisanti.
The mayor and 25 councillors each have one vote; most decisions need a majority, so one councillor cannot change a by-law or the budget alone.
The mayor proposes the budget, can veto council's budget changes and some by-laws (two-thirds of council overrides), and can pass by-laws on provincial priorities with one-third support.
Council sets property tax, the budget, zoning and by-laws, and runs services such as roads, parks, water, shelters and libraries.
Developers can appeal planning decisions to the Ontario Land Tribunal, a provincial body council cannot overrule; since 2024 most residents cannot appeal.
The Province decides rent control and evictions, new schools, GO trains and the Ontario Line, highway tolls, bike lanes that remove a traffic lane, and election rules.
Council sets the police budget total and the TTC subsidy; the police board and Chief decide how policing works, and the TTC Board runs transit.
Where they differ
Candidates grouped by what they have said.
On new housing, what do they put first? (Housing)
Brown also backs community benefit agreements at Woodbine and Rexdale malls; Masri's support for as-of-right homes is conditional on infrastructure.
Allow more homes as of right, such as multiplexes or homes above plazas: Brown, Masri
Secure community benefits or facilities before approvals: Adib, Parmar
No position found: Abbey, Babar, Crisanti, Hamilton, Martino, Santos
Keep the protected bike lanes on Bloor, Yonge and University? (Roads and cycling)
Cycle Toronto questionnaire; Masri's second point is from his Build Canada answers.
Yes, and Yes to all four other Cycle Toronto pledges: Brown, Hamilton
Abstained (Yes to the other four, including rebuilding removed lanes); Build Canada: few new road reallocations: Masri
Police funding, or more for crisis services? (Policing and safety)
All five TTCriders respondents (Adib, Brown, Hamilton, Masri, Parmar) said Yes to expanding the crisis service across the TTC.
Keep the police budget about flat after inflation (Build Canada): Masri
Move Mounted Unit and paid-duty money to crisis services and safety hubs: Brown
Expand crisis teams; no stance on police funding: Hamilton, Parmar
No position found: Abbey, Adib, Babar, Crisanti, Martino, Santos
Property taxes: hold the line, or new City revenue? (Taxes and budget)
Roll back and freeze residential rates; no new local revenue for repairs: Masri
Cost control shown before backing any increase: Parmar
A new vacancy tax; tax breaks for co-ops and small business: Brown
No position found: Abbey, Adib, Babar, Crisanti, Hamilton, Martino, Santos
Little disagreement, or few spoke: Homelessness, Transit, City services, Flooding and infrastructure, Parks and waterfront, Environment, Small business, Community services, Governance. See Issue by issue.
The candidates
10 certified, in alphabetical order. Each card counts the commitments on record and how many are firm (pledged, or “will push for”), then shows the 4 they lead with. Counts reflect how much a candidate has published and how they phrase it; more is not better. Chips show how feasible each is and how firmly it was stated. Surveys and forums counted: Build Canada, TTCriders survey, TTCriders pledge, Environmental Alliance pledge, Cycle Toronto.
Abraham Abbey
Rexdale Community Hub board member; ran for Ward 1 councillor in 2022. No campaign website, platform or survey answers found.
No commitments found.
Record
Ran in 2022 (10th of 16, 285 votes); sought Council's 2022 appointment to the vacant Ward 1 seat.
Born and raised in Etobicoke; founded Smile for Sache, a youth and family group. Leads on safe neighbourhoods, student nutrition, community spaces, responsible development, affordable housing and renters.
“”Self-reported: background
Top commitments
14 on record, 8 firm.
A community-safety-led approach to development (∼Vague; Will push for). Sources
Entrepreneur and community advocate; her site lists her as an Ontario Liberal Party regional vice-president. Leads on safer neighbourhoods, affordable housing, free transit for seniors, cleaner City services, youth opportunities and local jobs.
Former workforce-development policy analyst who grew up in Rexdale; ran for mayor in 2022 and 2023. Leads on safer streets, better transit, affordable homes and a stronger voice at City Hall.
Top commitments
65 on record, 14 firm.
Move Mounted Unit money to crisis services (→Outside City control; ✓Already exists; Would advocate). Sources
Ward 1 councillor since 2022, and the area's councillor from 2010 to 2018; a deputy mayor in his earlier terms. In 2022 he named community safety, jobs and housing as priorities.
Top commitments
4 on record, 1 firm.
Extend the Finch West LRT to a new GO station (→Outside City control; Will push for). Sources
Owns a truck-repair business in Etobicoke North and founded the 1 Umbrella Family Foundation. Leads on safety, youth opportunity, jobs and local business, families and seniors, newcomers and community voice.
“”Self-reported: background
Top commitments
25 on record, 5 firm.
Community safety and violence prevention (∼Vague; Supports). Sources
Technology entrepreneur running as an independent; campaigns as Nathen Mazri. Leads on property taxes and City spending, neighbourhood upkeep and a more responsive councillor's office.
“”Self-reported: background
Top commitments
83 on record, 48 firm.
Roll back and freeze Ward 1's residential tax rate (→Outside City control; Pledges). Sources
Civil-engineering graduate and former Region of Peel construction inspector; works at a local store. Leads on roads and flooding, buses and Woodbine GO, Woodbine benefits, spending, health access and constituency service.
“”Self-reported: background
Top commitments
25 on record, 22 firm.
One coordinated dig per street (◐Possible but hard; Pledges). Sources
Ran for Ward 1 councillor in 2022. Campaigns on 'Getting It Done for Etobicoke North'; leads on more for Etobicoke North, Woodbine local hiring and safe routes to school.
Top commitments
2 on record, 0 firm.
Etobicoke North should get more (∼Vague; Supports). Sources
Masri: Supports more homes as of right where infrastructure allows, faster approvals and lower development charges; would bar corporate short-term rentals.. Sources
Masri: Build Canada: police budget about flat after inflation; supports more neighbourhood policing where affordable; pledges a park-lighting motion.. Sources
No position found: Abbey, Adib, Babar, Hamilton, Martino, Santos.
Other issues
Homelessness: Masri pledges to renovate and expand shelters and backs requiring people in parks to leave when indoor space is offered; Brown proposes an addiction and harm-reduction hub. Crisanti voted for six new shelter sites in 2025.. Sources
Transit: Adib, Brown, Hamilton, Masri and Parmar said Yes to all 18 TTCriders questions, including the fare freeze. Babar and Masri back free transit for seniors; Crisanti will push to extend the Finch West LRT.. Sources
Flooding and infrastructure: Brown calls for capital funding for sewer separation and stormwater work; Parmar pledges a flooding audit of the worst streets and a funded plan.. Sources
Parks and waterfront: Adib will fight for two proposed community centres; Brown proposes an eco-park on Humber Valley golf course land; Hamilton backs trail links; Masri's Build Canada target: 10 beautification projects delivered or funded by 2030.. Sources
Environment: Brown, Hamilton, Masri and Parmar signed the Environmental Alliance pledge, which includes pausing large AI data-centre approvals. Masri would also levy data centres 1.5%.. Sources
Small business: Brown proposes social procurement and co-op training with Humber College; Masri will champion waiving licence fees for small food businesses; Parmar pledges a Woodbine benefits agreement with local-hiring targets; Santos highlights the missed target, with no measure stated.. Sources
Community services: Adib will fight to protect student nutrition funding; Brown pledges a City-land grocery co-op; Masri will champion an urgent care centre; Parmar pledges a standing table with Etobicoke General.. Sources
Governance: Masri refuses the council raise and pledges it to a ward community fund; Parmar pledges quarterly public scorecards; Hamilton pledges to report back on safety work.. Sources
Could the City actually do it? Each proposal is rated once, the same way in every race. A rating is about the proposal, not the candidate.
●Realistic
Constituency service promises: Masri
Donate part of councillor pay locally: Masri
Public ward spending page: Parmar
Participatory budgeting in the ward: Masri
◐Possible but hard
Changes to specific TTC routes: Parmar. Decides: TTC Board and staff.
Free TTC for seniors, students or under-26s: Babar. Decides: TTC Board and City budget.
One coordinated dig per street: Parmar. Decides: City (capital coordination, Transportation, Toronto Water) and utilities.
Two new Ward 1 community centres: Adib. Decides: City Council (capital budget).
→Outside City control
Cut the police mounted unit and redirect the money: Brown. Decides: Police Service Board and Chief of Police.
Extend Finch West LRT to Woodbine/Pearson: Crisanti. Decides: Province of Ontario / Metrolinx.
Ward-only property tax rollback: Masri. Decides: Province of Ontario.
✓Already exists
Expand eviction prevention: Brown
More street outreach and crisis-response workers: Brown
School breakfast programs: Adib
Community benefit agreements: Adib, Parmar
∼Vague
Catch up on repairs (no measure named): Adib
More accountability and transparency: Masri
More affordable housing (no measure named): Babar
Community programs or support (no measure named): Hamilton, Santos
Protect or improve services (no measure named): Babar, Hamilton
Represent residents, work cooperatively and be accessible: Brown
Safer streets (no measure named): Santos
Support main streets and local businesses: Hamilton
Transit goals with no mechanism named: Babar, Brown
Safer public spaces (no measure named): Adib, Babar, Hamilton
Every catalogued commitment, by candidate
Alphabetical. Firm: pledged, or “will push for”. Counts reflect how much each candidate has published and how they phrase it; more commitments is not a better platform. Proposals a candidate opposes are not counted.
Abbey: 0 on record, 0 firm
Adib: 14 on record, 8 firm. Possible but hard 4 · Outside City control 1 · Already exists 5 · Vague 4
Babar: 8 on record, 5 firm. Possible but hard 1 · Vague 7
Brown: 65 on record, 14 firm. Realistic 4 · Possible but hard 21 · Outside City control 6 · Already exists 11 · Vague 7 · Not rated 16
Crisanti: 4 on record, 1 firm. Outside City control 2 · Already exists 1 · Not rated 1
Hamilton: 25 on record, 5 firm. Realistic 3 · Possible but hard 6 · Outside City control 4 · Already exists 3 · Vague 7 · Not rated 2
Martino: 0 on record, 0 firm
Masri: 83 on record, 48 firm. Realistic 12 · Possible but hard 28 · Outside City control 6 · Already exists 10 · Vague 16 · Not rated 11
Parmar: 25 on record, 22 firm. Realistic 8 · Possible but hard 5 · Outside City control 2 · Already exists 4 · Vague 5 · Not rated 1
Santos: 2 on record, 0 firm. Vague 2
Numbers checked
Up to two checked figures per candidate, and every checked claim about a rival, compared with official records or dated news.
Figures candidates cite
≈Mostly accurate: Adib: Council approved about $31.17M for student nutrition in 2026. Toronto Public Health reports $31.97M, with the same 78 new school communities.. Sources
Method: Built from 528 sourced rows (held rows excluded) read 12 October 2026: candidates' own materials, City records, dated news and organizers' surveys. Crisanti's campaign site and parts of Brown's could not be read, so their positions come from the pages and records that could. Each proposal is rated once, the same way in every race. Positions are recorded only as firmly as stated. An agent that did not draft the page checked it before publication. Labels appear only on facts that are not confirmed. The rubric defines ratings and strength words. Source dates shown without a year are in 2026.
Corrections: 13 October 2026: Cross-ward check: Crisanti's 2024 news-reported statements now count; Brown's bare platform items read Supports and Hamilton's crossing-mapping item Will push for; Masri's ward-only tax freeze carries one rating; tallies leave out opposed proposals and count merged duplicates once; some ratings updated.
Researched and drafted with AI, checked against linked sources. To report an error: corrections@spinfilterto.ca.
This guide is independent and non-partisan. It does not recommend, rank or score candidates.