If Keesmaat wins the election, it would complete one of the highest-profile transitions from planner to politician in recent memory.
"Jennifer Keesmaat, the city’s outspoken former chief planner, is running for mayor of Toronto, hoping to prevent John Tory from winning a second term in office," report David Rider and Jennifer Pagliaro.
Keesmaat regularly sparred with Mayor John Tory, perhaps most famously over the fate of the Gardiner Expressway, although both were diplomatic when Keesmaat left the chief planner position in August 2017. Keesmaat is considered a progressive challenger for the position, and has been an outspoken critic of the newly elected Ontario Premier Doug Ford. In the past, Keesmaat has been an outspoken supporter of pedestrians and has been accused of inciting a "war on cars."
Keesmaat also appeared at #54 on a crowd-sourced list of the "most influential urbanists" created by Planetizen in October 2017.
FULL STORY: ‘We need bold ideas in this city.’ Jennifer Keesmaat to run for mayor of Toronto
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UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research