Episode 10: Interview with Sarah Doucette, Toronto City Councillor (2010-2018)
Description: In the season one finale of the Real Talk Roundtable, Ajay and Prakash publish their first recorded interview with former Toronto City Councillor Sarah Doucette to learn what a councillor does, why people should engage with municipal politics, and the effects of Premier Ford's cut of council from the proposed 47 Councillors to 25.
Recorded: November 6th, 2018.
Location: Swansea Town Hall in the Council Chamber Room.
Timestamps:
Intro: 0:00
Bio: 1:54
Why are City Councillors important?: 2:50
What is the typical day of a City Councillor look like?: 4:12
What are the primary responsibilities of a City Councillor?: 6:03
Why did you get into politics?: 7:59
Is it easier or harder to campaign today compared to the past?: 9:49
How did you work with City Councillors with different perspectives?: 12:41
What are some of the difficulties you faced in being a City Councillor?: 13:34
How do you stay engaged with your community?: 15:58
Why is it important to engage with your City Councillor?: 17:33
Should the media give more attention to local city issues?: 22:28
What changes will take place in reducing the number of Toronto City Councillors from the proposed 47 to 25?: 25:20
What are the benefits to reducing the number of City Councillors?: 27:34
Would Toronto City Council have accepted the change in the number of City Councillors if it was through a more traditional process or if it did not involve Premier Doug Ford?: 29:07
Outro: 33:34
Sarah Doucette
-Toronto City Councillor (2010-2018)
-Neighbourhood Director, Stone Soup Network
Twitter: @SarahEDoucette
Sarah Doucette was City Councillor for Ward 13 Parkdale-High Park from December 1, 2010 to November 30, 2018. Her ward included the Humber River and many local parks, most notably High Park, which Sarah affectionately calls the "Jewel of the City". Sarah was Vice-Chair of both the Parks and Environment and the Board of Health Committees.
As the Councillor, Sarah worked hard for the residents of Ward 13. She stopped cuts to library hours and TTC services, while successfully expanding childcare services. Sarah brought forward a successful motion to see skating return to a designated area of Grenadier pond, and was also successful in implementing traffic calming to improve safety on residential streets particularly in and around the local schools. With the local residents' associations, Sarah fought to protect the avenues from unreasonable development.
In 2017 Sarah worked with the community on the Bloor West Avenue Planning Study, the Baby Point and Old Millside Heritage Conservation District Studies and the High Park Apartment Neighbourhood Character Study. After community consultation, the Bloor Street West Heritage Conservation District Study began in 2018. As of this post, she is the Neighbourhood Director of the Stone Soup Network.
Additional Information and References:
2019 Toronto City Council operating budget: $13.47 billion.
Toronto population: 2.7 million people.
311: 24/7 number that helps with non-emergency city services (waste collection, roads, water, noise, graffiti, complaints, trees, animals and more).
Streets to Homes: program funded by the City of Toronto to help people with a history of homelessness to transition from living on the street to living in permanent housing.