Enza Anderson takes her message to the street

Ward 27 candidate leaves trademark heels at the office

Enza Anderson wants to clean up city hall. That was her message on April 23, when she took a broom to the corner of Church and Wellesley streets.

She and her campaign team picked up trash, but Anderson admits that Toronto is already a relatively clean town. Her beef is with city hall, where she says constituents are kept at arm’s length from local politicians.

“When you don’t give people access or a voice in helping design their community, that’s when people get upset,” she says.

Anderson was on her lunch break from the Bank of Montreal, where she works. She was still wearing the company nametag, but she left her trademark heels at the office in favour of running sneakers.

She’s vying to replace Kyle Rae in a crowded contest for Ward 27. Other candidates include Kristyn Wong-Tam, Susan Gapka, Rob Salerno, Ken Chan and Chris Tindal.

No stranger to controversy, Anderson took on one of the big issues of the day, saying unequivocally that city hall should not get involved with setting the terms of involvement for Pride parade participants.

“Pride is very capable of making its own decisions,” she said.

Municipal elections across the province are slated for Oct 25. Rae, who’s represented the area for 19 years, has said that he won’t be running again.

Marcus McCann

Marcus McCann is an employment and human rights lawyer, member of Queers Crash the Beat, and a part owner of Glad Day Bookshop. Before becoming a lawyer, he was the managing editor of Xtra in Toronto and Ottawa.

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