Who is building the city and who are we building it for?

Heading into the municipal election this fall, a new group, Progress Toronto, plans to both ask those questions and advocate for the type of change that could shake up the status quo at city hall.

The new non-profit, launching this week, is the brainchild of political organizer Michal Hay, 34, who as national campaign director recently led Jagmeet Singh to a first-ballot win in the federal NDP leadership race.

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The new political organization, Hay told the Star, plans to both influence decision-making at city hall through organized community activism and also advocate for progressive candidates to win seats in the upcoming election.

“Toronto’s an amazing city that I love, and I know many people love and want to live in. And it’s a city that’s definitely growing and has increasing wealth, but at the same time it’s not a city that’s working for everybody,” Hay said. “I believe, and the people who are coming together around this all believe, that it doesn’t have to be this way and much of it actually comes down to choices that are being made at city hall.”

The advisory board, comprised of about 30 people, behind the organization has a majority of women, youth and people of colour, comprised of both researchers and campaigners who come from across the city and with a range of experiences. Hay said that diversity is important to reflect the city when council itself does not.

The board includes names like the Broadbent Institute’s Alejandra Bravo, the Toronto Youth Cabinet’s Edna Ali, as well as the CEE Centre for Young Black Professionals’ Kofi Hope.

Returning to Toronto after seeing Singh through his transition in Ottawa was important to Hay. She has been a campaigner for the Toronto Environmental Alliance and for almost two terms was the executive assistant to Councillor Mike Layton (Ward 19, Trinity-Spadina), son of former NDP leader Jack Layton. She was also the field director for Olivia Chow’s unsuccessful 2014 mayoral campaign. In those roles, she has had a hand in advocating for the Transit City light-rail plan largely scrapped under former mayor Rob Ford, sought supervised injection services that have recently opened across the city, pushed for more shelter space downtown and fought against a casino opening in Toronto.

Layton called Hay a “task master” who is first and foremost a very principled person. At city hall, she is known for her strengths in grassroots campaigning and a meticulous attention to detail and data.

Board member Hope said part of the reason he wanted to get involved was the “integrity and vision that Michal has as a leader.”

“Like so many people in this city, there’s a real hunger to get a new generation of leaders into city council and influencing our politics and to increase the diversity and the reputation and the voice,” Hope said.

Hay said she believes councillors, regardless of where they are on the political spectrum, can be moved on issues if they hear loudly from their residents. Adding progressive voices to city hall, including those more representative of the city, will allow them to directly influence decisions, she said.

While the search for a big-name challenger to Mayor John Tory continues, there could be more than 10 open seats in the Oct. 22 election — meaning there is no incumbent councillor running — with changes to ward boundaries and current Toronto councillors vacating their seats.

“I don’t see there being much of a fight at the mayoral level, the way it’s looking right now, so the 47 wards are going to be really, really critical to get more progressive votes being passed,” former Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment boss Richard Peddie told the Star. Now a member of the Progress Toronto board, Peddie confirms he will not run against Tory after spending several months considering it.

Dr. Amina Jabbar, a resident in geriatrics and member of the advisory board, said she’s seen the city over the past two decades shift in ways that concern her.

“When we have cities with disparities, they’re unsafe and they’re unhealthy,” she said, adding that’s not the city she wants to raise her newborn son in. “What’s great about the municipal election coming around the corner is that it gives us an opportunity to start talking about who’s in power and what is the vision that they have for the city.”

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The timing for launching the new organization is key, but there is an opportunity to keep pushing beyond 2018, said community organizer Dusha Sritharan, also a member of the board.

“One of my worries is we often work in silos in the community,” she said. “I think a lot of the people who are coming on board are seeing the potential for long-term change in this.”

The group plans to officially launch with a party on April 5, followed by a broad consultation in person and online on the kind of future city residents imagine.

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