Mike Del Grande

Mike Del Grande is a Canadian politician. Elected in 2003, he is a Toronto city councillor, representing Ward 39 Scarborough—Agincourt.

Background

Michael Anthony Del Grande was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. He is the eldest child of Italian immigrants. He is married and has three children.

Del Grande became a member of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants when he graduated from the University of Toronto in 1979. Since that time, he also received a Bachelor of Commerce and Finance degree in 1976 and a Bachelor of Education degree in 2002, both from the University of Toronto, as well as a Master's degree in Theological Studies from St. Augustine in 2000.

He has served on the Parent Teacher Association of St. Sylvester Catholic School for 17 years. As well, he has been a member of Neighborhood Watch since 1990 and has volunteered with Scouts Canada. He held the position of Co-President of the Silver Springs Community Association for 20 years, was a founding member of Scarborough Needs Accountable Politicians (SNAP), and has been a member of the Scarborough Homeowners Alliance for Fair Taxes since this group's inception. For these efforts, Del Grande was awarded Scarborough's Volunteer of the Year award in 1991. He is a participant in the parish community of St. Aidan's and served as Treasurer for the parish for the past 20 years.

In 1996, Del Grande was diagnosed with a benign brain tumour known as an Acoustic Neuroma. Refusing to accept conventional brain surgery as an option or using other experimental treatments, Del Grande decided to pursue what he deemed as proven technology in Rhode Island to receive treatment using a machine known as a Gamma Knife. His $25,550 medical claim to the Ontario Hospital Insurance Plan (OHIP) was subsequently refused and Del Grande began a long series of class action hearings against the Ontario government to have the province reimburse him and others who sought out-of-country Gamma laser surgery.

In 1999, the Health Appeal Board ruled that since Gamma Knife treatments were not equivalent to those available in Canada, he and future appellants were entitled to full reimbursement. Del Grande lobbied the government for a Gamma Knife unit to be brought to Canada, and was part a group that was eventually able to see the first machine installed at the Toronto Western Hospital.

School trustee

Del Grande first entered politics by running to be a school trustee for the Metropolitan Separate School Board (now the Toronto Catholic District School Board) in 1991. He lost that election, but was elected to the school board in 1994. He was re-elected in 1997 and 2000. Throughout his nine years as a school trustee, he served as the Chair of school board for one year, from 2000 to 2001.

Del Grande's aggressive style as a school trustee drew both praise and criticism within the school board. As a self-proclaimed "reform" trustee, he promoted initiatives to reform the school board so that it could be more open and accountable to its constituents. Due to his conservative views on some issues, some believed that he was politically affiliated with the Reform Party of Canada. In order to put an end to the perceived association, he renamed his moniker and promoted himself as a "sunshine" trustee so that he could shed some "sunshine" in the school board's "dark places".

In 1996, Del Grande was charged under Ontario labour law by the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association for "bargaining in bad faith" when it was alleged that he used the local media to manipulate public opinion at a time when the school board was in contract negotiations with its teachers. The charge was subsequently dropped by the association after he agreed to cease and desist.

City councillor

In 2003, Del Grande ran for city council against longtime incumbent Sherene Shaw and won in a surprise upset. As one of the few right-wing councillors elected to a council dominated by left-wing councillors, Del Grande has become one of the leading critics of Toronto Mayor David Miller. He was an active participant in the "Keep the Chief" campaign in 2004, when Julian Fantino, then Toronto's Chief of Police, did not have his contract renewed by the Toronto Police Services Board.

He has been a vocal opponent of the budgetary process at Toronto City Hall. In responding to a budget report prepared by the city's financial staff on December 12, 2005, he was quoted as saying, "It's underhandedness. This is why people from Scarborough, the area I represent, have no confidence in the politicians down here."

While Del Grande has served as a member of the city's Audit Committee and the Works Committee, his aggressive style on council has incited both praise and criticism. The right-leaning Toronto Sun praised his efforts on March 4, 2004, by saying that "Taxpayers should give rookie councillor Mike Del Grande a big thank-you today", and rated him a "B" in a subsequent article on November 24, 2004, by stating that he "shakes up" people on council "with his knowledge of numbers and computers." On the other hand, the left-leaning Now magazine writer Don Wanagas classified Del Grande in a feature column on March 11, 2004, as one of the council's "duds" due to his "Oscar the Grouch persona".

In a recent interview Del Grande stated his opposition to breakfast programs for poor children, stating that parents who have children should take responsibility for them.^[1] Pundit (expert) Michael Shapcott stated that this was a perfect example of "blaming the victim" for their adverse situation.^[2]

Controversies

During his campaign for re-election in 2006, Del Grande held for police a volunteer working for rival candidate John Wong. Del Grande accused the woman of removing his campaign flyers from an apartment building and prevented her from leaving until police arrived to arrest her. However, a private complaint by the woman to a Justice of the Peace resulted in Del Grande being charged with assault. The charges against the woman were withdrawn by the Crown in exchange for community service in January 2007; the charge against Del Grande was withdrawn by the crown in February.^[3]

In December 2004 during a two hour tour of his ward with Scarborough Mirror reporter David Nickle, Del Grande used the opportunity to highlight the nature of his ward; namely the difficulties of establishing a deep sense of community and trust with local services when longtime residents of the ward are moving out and are replaced by a transient and newly landed immigrant population. A quote used in the article stating "a lot of white people are moving out" of his ward while many immigrants from mainland China are moving in^[4] sparked a controversy that spilled over to other local newspapers and continued into early January 2005. His remarks were condemned by some commentators as divisive or racist.

Demographics regarding Del Grande's statement can be found directly on the City of Toronto's Web Site

Del Grande's ward (39) is one of, if not the most, ethnically diverse wards in Toronto and Canada. From a 2001 ward population of 54,780 people, the total number of first-generation immigrants from all countries make up 68.3% (37.390 people) of that figure. The total number of first generation immigrants from China and Hong Kong living in the ward represents 31.7% (17,370 people) of the ward's total.

Election results

^[5]

References

External links

• City of Toronto Councillor Profile
• Official website