Joe Pantalone

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Joe Pantalone (born 1952) is a city councillor for Ward 19 Trinity-Spadina, one of two wards, in Trinity—Spadina and deputy mayor of Toronto, Ontario.

Born in Sicily, Italy to a sharecropping father, Pantalone immigrated to Canada with his family at age thirteen. He attended Harbord Collegiate where he was elected Student Council President. He then obtained a geography degree from the University of Toronto.

Entering politics, he lost four bids for a municipal seat before finally winning in 1980. He has remained a municipal politician ever since, with over 25 years at City Hall. In the 1987 provincial election, he ran as an Ontario New Democratic Party candidate in the riding of Fort York. He lost a very close race to Liberal candidate Bob Wong by only 137 votes. In 1988, Pantalone was successful in his bid to be elected to the Metropolitan Toronto council. He ran for the chair of Metro Council in 1991 and 1994, but he lost both times to Alan Tonks. On council, his most prominent role was as chairman of Exhibition Place and as an advocate for increasing the number of trees in the city.

When Toronto, five of its suburbs, and Metro Council were amalgamated into one city in 1997, Pantalone returned to Toronto City Council as Ward 19 Councillor. During Mel Lastman's term as Mayor of Toronto (1997-2003), Pantalone served as the left wing's representative on the budget committee. With the election of fellow New Democrat David Miller as mayor in the 2003 election, Pantalone became a central figure at city hall. He is Miller's Deputy Mayor. In recent years, Pantalone has been active in promoting environmental issues. He has been given the title of 'Tree Advocate'.