John Filion

John Filion (born 1950) is a Toronto city councillor representing one of the two Willowdale wards, Ward 23 Willowdale.

Filion attended York University and he graduated with a degree in history. He became a journalist specializing in education issues. He was the founding editor of the Canadian World Almanac.

He first entered politics as a trustee on the North York Board of Education to which he was elected in 1981. From 1987 to 1990 he served as chair of the school board. He was elected to North York's city council in 1990 replacing retiring councillor Jim McGuffin. He moved to Toronto city council with the creation of the new city in 1997. He received a great deal of attention for his role as chair of the city's Board of Health. He used this position to push for a smoking ban in Toronto bars and restaurants and to force restaurants to post records of their health inspections. As a member of the police services board he was a sharp critic of chief Julian Fantino and also publicly accused members of the police force of monitoring his activities.

Filion spearheaded Toronto's A La Carte program, an attempt to introduce variety into Toronto's street food scene. The program was terminated two years into its three-year pilot program Some participants in the program complained they were left bankrupt from the experience. Meddling city bureaucracy and expensive, city-specified food carts that malfunctioned were some of the reasons cited for the failure of Filion's program. Councillor Filion wouldn't apologize for the failure but did admit to it being a humbling experience. He suggested he would do it differently if given the chance.

Unofficial results as of October 26, 2010 03:55 am