Don’t try to tell Jennifer Hollett that politics can’t be a force for good.

It’s easy to be cynical, the 42-year-old head of news for Twitter Canada knows. As someone who says her political “coming of age” was as a popular VJ on MuchMusic — making global issues in the post-9/11 world accessible to youth and interviewing both Beyoncé and former federal NDP leader Jack Layton on the main stage — she believes one of the key issues downtown is making space for everyone.

Hollett will sign up to run for the newly-redrawn Ward 21 on Tuesday. The ward covers the waterfront from Yonge St. to the Don Valley Parkway and is largely bordered to the north by Shuter St., encompassing neighbourhoods such as Moss Park, St. Lawrence and Corktown.

“People are being squeezed out of Toronto, especially downtown, and I can’t imagine a vibrant downtown without young people, newcomers, working class people, families, artists, entrepreneurs and that is the tension right now,” Hollett said in an interview Monday. “There’s an opportunity as our community is growing . . . to get it right, to make sure we’re not just building buildings but building communities.”

Most of the ward was carved out of the former Ward 28 (Toronto Centre—Rosedale), represented by the late veteran councillor Pam McConnell. Councillor Lucy Troisi was appointed to fill the vacancy in November.

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Without an incumbent in the race, Hollett joins a crowded field with nine other candidates already signed up. They are: Anita Agrawal, Richard Anobile, Jon Callegher, Suzanne Kavanagh, Gladys Larbie, William Meneray, Noah Parker, Catherina Perez and Matthew Plourde.

Raised in St. Catharines by a single mom — Hollett recently purchased her first home in the ward, a condo in St. Lawrence — the now Harvard graduate said she always felt “very disconnected” to the political process.

“It felt like something that was happening to me,” she said. “There’s a larger movement right now, especially with the upcoming municipal election, of new voices and new energy and optimism coming forward with the belief that things can be better.”

She said key issues for the downtown east area are housing and connecting green space and good transit options like the King St. pilot, which has helped residents get home faster.

After working at Sony Music Canada and as a journalist at several news outlets, Hollett’s first step into the political ring was seeking the federal New Democrat nomination in 2013 in the old Toronto Centre riding, which she lost. In 2015, she got the nomination and challenged Liberal MP and now Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland in the general election. The first-time candidate came in second with 28.6 per cent of the vote after running on a Toronto-centric platform backed by the party’s focus on cities. Freeland won with 49.8 per cent.

Hollett worked on Olivia Chow’s 2014 mayoral campaign and has been involved at the board level with Toronto-based advocacy groups Toronto Environmental Alliance, Social Planning Toronto and No Jets Toronto.

“She was absolutely invaluable to our mission,” No Jets Toronto’s Norman Di Pasquale said, noting her work on key fundraisers that kept their campaign afloat. “I just think she has that rare match of skills that will make her very, very effective.”

Hollett has also earned the support of McConnell’s family.

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“We are excited that a wonderful young, progressive woman is running to represent a piece of my mom’s ward,” her daughter Heather Ann said in an email. “We support Jennifer because we trust that she will continue working on the important issues including affordable housing, transit, and poverty reduction — and other local issues — in the dedicated, tenacious, and caring way that my mom did.”

Sharon McMillan, president of the non-partisan St. Lawrence Neighbourhood Association, said they will be looking for candidates “who reflect our priorities” — including a non-NIMBY approach to development, focus on affordable housing, safe streets for everyone with a high volume of traffic moving through their neighbourhood, and protecting heritage and green spaces.

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