{{short description|Canadian politician|bot=PearBOT 5}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Joe Cressy | image = Joe Cressy 2014 debate (cropped).jpg | caption = Cressy in 2014 | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1984|07|10}} | birth_place = Toronto, Ontario | death_date = | office = Toronto City Councillor<br />for Ward 10 Spadina—Fort York | term_start = December 1, 2018 | term_end = April 30, 2022 | predecessor = ''Ward created'' | successor = Joe Mihevc | office2 = Chair of the Toronto Board of Health | term_start2 = January 30, 2019 | term_end2 = April 30, 2022 | predecessor2 = Joe Mihevc | successor2 = Joe Mihevc | office3 = Toronto City Councillor<br />for Ward 20 Trinity—Spadina | term_start3 = December 1, 2014 | term_end3 = December 1, 2018 | predecessor3 = Ceta Ramkhalawansingh | successor3 = ''Ward dissolved'' | parents = Gordon Cressy<br />Joanne Campbell | spouse = {{marriage|Nina Gorka|2013|2016|end=divorced}}<ref name="tvo.org">[https://www.tvo.org/transcript/2543181/joe-cressy-confronting-my-panic-attacks "Transcript: Joe Cressy: Confronting My Panic Attacks"]. ''TVO'', January 11, 2019.</ref><br />{{marriage|Grace O'Connell|2018}}<ref name="tvo.org"/> | party = Nonpartisan (municipal) | occupation = | website = {{URL|http://www.joecressy.com/}} | other_party = New Democratic (federal) }} '''Joseph Cressy''' (born July 10, 1984)<ref>[http://www.ipolitics.ca/2014/04/15/meet-joe-cressy-door-knocking-in-trinity-spadina-and-loving-it/ "Meet Joe Cressy: Door-knocking in Trinity Spadina and loving it"]. ''iPolitics'', April 15, 2014.</ref> is a former Canadian politician and activist who served on the Toronto City Council from 2014 to 2022. Cressy represented Ward 10 Spadina—Fort York, and was the chair of the Toronto Board of Health. On 22 April 2024, Cressy announced on X that he had joined Waterfront Toronto as its chief of staff.<ref>{{Cite tweet |number=1782424472709972065 |user=joe_cressy |title=I’m thrilled to share that I have accepted a new job as Chief of Staff at Waterfront Toronto. |first=Joe |last=Cressy |date=22 April 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Who We Are {{!}} Waterfront Toronto |url=https://www.waterfrontoronto.ca/about-us/who-we-are |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=www.waterfrontoronto.ca}}</ref>
== Career ==
=== Activism === Cressy has worked on various social justice issues, which traces back to high school when he spent a year in South Africa.<ref>[https://nowtoronto.com/news/joe-cressy-on-nelson-mandela-and-inspiration/ "Joe Cressy on Nelson Mandela and Inspiration"]. "Now Toronto", December 12, 2013.</ref> Upon returning to high school in Toronto, he got involved in the anti-Iraq war movement<ref>[http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/70559_Protesters-in-Canada-express-anger-at-Bush--Iraq-war "Protesters in Canada express anger at Bush, Iraq War"]. "Jamaica Observer", December 1, 2004.</ref> and has since worked on anti-poverty campaigns in South Africa, literacy programs with First Nations communities in Northern Ontario, and worked with The Stop Community Food Centre.
Cressy also supports LGBTQ issues,<ref>[http://www.dailyxtra.com/toronto/news-and-ideas/news/former-chow-staffer-seeks-ndp-nomination-in-trinity-spadina-81241 "Former Chow staffer seeks NDP nomination in Trinity-Spadina"]. "Daily Xtra", March 21, 2014.</ref> volunteering for an LGBTQ organization while studying abroad in Accra and supporting the New Democratic Party's (NDP) call for a visa ban against legislators who passed anti-gay laws in Russia.
=== Federal politics === {{Multiple image | align = left | image1 = Transit Canvass and Announcement 2014-06-05.jpg | caption1 = | image2 = Transit Canvass and Announcement 2014-06-05 - 14167562089.jpg | caption2 = | total_width = | direction = vertical | footer = Cressy canvassing with NDP leader Thomas Mulcair (top) and campaign signs on Spadina Avenue (bottom) }}
Cressy ran for the New Democratic Party (NDP) in a by-election seeking to represent Trinity—Spadina in the House of Commons following former NDP member of Parliament (MP) Olivia Chow's resignation to run for mayor of Toronto in the 2014 mayoral election. Cressy placed second, following winner Adam Vaughan who previously represented Ward 20 on Toronto City Council.<ref name=":0">[https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/toronto2014election/2014/10/27/ward_20_joe_cressy_wins_second_time_around.html "Joe Cressy wins second time in Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina"]. ''Toronto Star'', October 27, 2014.</ref>
=== Toronto City Council === Following his defeat federally, Cressy ran and was elected in the 2014 municipal election in Ward 20 Trinity—Spadina, succeeding Ceta Ramkhalawansingh, who was appointed interim councillor following Vaughan's resignation to run for MP.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|last1=Apr 15|first1=Laura Beaulne-Stuebing Published on|last2=2014 3:38pm|date=2014-04-15|title=Meet Joe Cressy: Door-knocking in Trinity Spadina and loving it|url=https://ipolitics.ca/2014/04/15/meet-joe-cressy-door-knocking-in-trinity-spadina-and-loving-it/|access-date=2020-07-17|website=iPolitics|language=en-US}}</ref>
As councillor, Cressy has sat on the Toronto Board of Health (serving as chair), the board of directors for Toronto Community Housing, the Parks and Environment Committee and the sub-committee on Climate Change and Adaptation.
Cressy ran again in the 2018 municipal election in the newly formed Ward 10 Spadina—Fort York, which his old ward was amalgamated into. He was re-elected by one of the widest victory margins of any councillor in the city with 55.06 per cent of the vote.<ref name="TorontoStar2018-10-22" />
Cressy has announced he intends to retire from electoral politics and did not stand in the 2022 Toronto municipal election.<ref>{{cite news |title=The man who won't be mayor: Why one of Toronto's youngest and most effective political leaders is calling it quits |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2021/10/24/the-man-who-wont-be-mayor-why-one-of-torontos-youngest-and-most-effective-political-leaders-is-calling-it-quits.html |access-date=October 24, 2021 |work=Toronto Star |date=October 24, 2021}}</ref> He resigned from city council, effective April 30, 2022, to accept an appointment as senior vice president for external relations, communications and real estate development at George Brown College.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Rider |first1=David |date=5 April 2022 |title=Toronto councillor Joe Cressy leaving city hall for job at George Brown College |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2022/04/05/toronto-councillor-joe-cressy-leaving-city-hall-for-job-at-george-brown-college.html |newspaper=The Toronto Star}}</ref>
== Personal life == Cressy is the son of former Toronto city councillors Gordon Cressy and Joanne Campbell.<ref name="deeproots">[https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/03/17/_turns_to_young_activist_with_deep_chow_roots_in_trinityspadina.html "NDP turns to young activist with deep Chow roots in Trinity-Spadina"]. ''Toronto Star'', March 17, 2014.</ref> His birth in 1984 made Campbell the first woman in Toronto City Council history to give birth to a child while serving as a councillor.<ref name="notebook">"City Hall Notebook". ''The Globe and Mail'', July 23, 1984.</ref>
He studied public affairs and policy management at Carleton University. Prior to his entry into electoral politics, he worked for the Stephen Lewis Foundation and the Polaris Institute,<ref name="yahoo">[https://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/canada-politics/joe-cressy-man-wants-replace-olivia-chow-ottawa-135650392.html "Meet Joe Cressy: The man who seeks to replace Olivia Chow in Ottawa"]. Yahoo! News Canada, April 2, 2014.</ref> and was campaign manager for Mike Layton's (son of former federal NDP leader Jack Layton) successful campaign for a city council seat in the 2010 municipal election and NDP MP Olivia Chow's re-election campaign in the 2011 federal election.<ref name="deeproots" /> He was also initially involved in Chow's mayoral campaign in 2014, but withdrew when he decided to run in the Trinity—Spadina by-election.<ref name="yahoo" />
==Election results== {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" | colspan="3" |'''2018 Toronto municipal election, Ward 10 Spadina—Fort York''' |- ! scope="col" style="background:#ddf;" |Candidate ! scope="col" style="background:#ddf;" |Votes ! scope="col" style="background:#ddf;" |Vote share |- | scope="row" |Joe Cressy | align="right" |15,903 | align="right" |55.06% |- | scope="row" |April Engelberg | align="right" |3,346 | align="right" |11.58% |- | scope="row" |Kevin Vuong | align="right" |3,018 | align="right" |10.45% |- | scope="row" |Sabrina Zuniga | align="right" |1,564 | align="right" |5.41% |- | scope="row" |John Nguyen | align="right" |1,032 | align="right" |3.57% |- | scope="row" |Karlene Nation | align="right" |860 | align="right" |2.98% |- | scope="row" |Rick Myers | align="right" |747 | align="right" |2.59% |- | scope="row" |Dean Maher | align="right" |611 | align="right" |2.12% |- |Al Carbone | align="right" |519 | align="right" |1.8% |- |Andrew Massey | align="right" |473 | align="right" |1.64% |- |Michael Barcelos | align="right" |451 | align="right" |1.56% |- |Edris Zalmai | align="right" |147 | align="right" |0.51% |- |Andrei Zodian | align="right" |133 | align="right" |0.46% |- |Ahdam Dour | align="right" |80 | align="right" |0.28% |- ! scope="row" |Total ! align="right" |28,884 ! align="right" |{{Right|100%}} |- | colspan="3" |Source: City of Toronto<ref>{{cite web|title=Declaration of Results|url=https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/97da-2018clerksofficialdeclarationofresults.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181025222651/https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/97da-2018clerksofficialdeclarationofresults.pdf|archive-date=October 25, 2018|access-date=|publisher=Toronto City Clerk's Office}}</ref> |} {| class="wikitable" |+2014 Toronto election, Ward 20 |- ! width="150px" bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Candidate ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Votes ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | % |- |'''Joe Cressy'''|| align="right" |12,466 || align="right" |41.96 |- |Terri Chu || align="right" | 3,693 || align="right" | 12.43 |- |Sarah Thomson|| align="right" | 2,808 || align="right" | 9.45 |- |Mike Yen || align="right" | 1,431 || align="right" | 4.81 |- |Philip Morrison || align="right" | 1,407 || align="right" | 4.73 |- |Anshul Kapoor || align="right" | 1,063 || align="right" | 3.57 |- |Charles MacDonald || align="right" | 972 || align="right" | 3.27 |- |Albert Koehl || align="right" | 853 || align="right" | 2.87 |- |Tonny Louie || align="right" | 740|| align="right" | 2.49 |- |Daryl Christoff || align="right" | 705 || align="right" | 2.37 |- |Mike Andreae || align="right" | 590 || align="right" | 1.98 |- |Sam Goldstein || align="right" | 519 || align="right" | 1.74 |- |Nick Wright|| align="right" | 395 || align="right" | 1.33 |- |Stephanie Carty-Kegel || align="right" | 376 || align="right" | 1.26 |- |Sam Novak || align="right" | 376|| align="right" | 1.26 |- |Garaham Hollings || align="right" | 307 || align="right" | 1.03 |- |Stella Kargiannakis|| align="right" | 286 || align="right" | 0.96 |- |Leanne Hicks || align="right" | 212|| align="right" | 0.71 |- |Susan Tsai || align="right" | 194 || align="right" | 0.65 |- |Michael Monaghan|| align="right" | 128 || align="right" | 0.43 |- |Kat Shermack || align="right" | 102 || align="right" | 0.34 |- |Akeem Fasasi|| align="right" | 86 || align="right" | 0.28 |- !Total|| align="right" | 29,709 || align="right" | 100 |} Unofficial results as of October 27, 2014 10:05 PM<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://election.toronto.ca/epr2014/eprDetail.do?C;020,110,309,203,403, |title=City of Toronto elections page |access-date=2014-10-28 |archive-date=2014-10-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141028041544/http://election.toronto.ca/epr2014/eprDetail.do?C;020,110,309,203,403, |url-status=dead }}</ref>
{{2014 Canadian federal by-elections/Trinity—Spadina}}
==References== <references>
<ref name=TorontoStar2018-10-22> {{cite news | url = https://www.thestar.com/news/toronto-election/2018/10/22/joe-cressy-wins-by-a-landslide-in-ward-10-where-transit-remains-key-issue.html | title = Joe Cressy wins by a landslide | work = Toronto Star | date = 2018-10-22 | author = Sara Mojtehedzade | quote = Joe Cressy has vowed to fight for the city’s “most vulnerable” after a sweeping win in Spadina-Fort York. }} </ref>
</references>
==External links== {{commons category|Joe Cressy}} * [http://www.joecressy.com/ Official site]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cressy, Joe}} Category:1984 births Category:Living people Category:New Democratic Party candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Category:Toronto city councillors Category:Carleton University alumni Category:21st-century Canadian municipal councillors Category:Toronto candidates for Member of Parliament