Former councillor Jane Pitfield to run for election
She registered as candidate in east end ward
By Kris Scheuer
(Written Jan. 6 for Town Crier.)
Former councillor Jane Pitfield plans to run in Ward 29 after Case Ootes announced he'll retire. Town Crier file photo.
Jane Pitfield wants back into city hall and she’s chosen to run in Toronto-Danforth Ward 29.
Case Ootes the current local rep held a media conference this afternoon announcing he won’t seek re-election in this east end ward.
And at 3 pm today, Pitfield registered as a candidate for the ward she has political roots in.
“I was very surprised when councillor Case Ootes announced his retirement,” she told the media at the city’s election offices.
She met with councillors Ootes, Cliff Jenkins and Michael Walker weeks ago indicating her interest in running if any of them choose not to run.
“All of them said they thought they’d return,” she told the Town Crier today.
Then last night, councillor Ootes called to tell her he would not seek re-election.
“I felt my interest is so strong in coming back. Why wait?” she said in an interview.Although the former Don Valley West councillor is best known for representing Leaside, after all she even wrote a book on the former town, she also represented ward 29 in the past.
“I have chosen ward 29 because actually this is where I started,” she said at a press conference. “I opened my campaign office in 1997, competed in the amalgamation election, came third.
And then opened that same office again in 1998 when I was fortunate to gain a seat on city council in the by-election.”
From 1994 to 1997 she was a school trustee in a part of East York that covered this local ward.
While she lived in Leaside for years, she currently resides in ward 25 and has no immediate plans to move into ward 29 instead.
“Ideally, I’d like to live in the ward I represent,” she says. “But the amount of time I devote to it (job), it will be as if I live there.”
In 2006, she ran for mayor in Toronto and came second to then incumbent Mayor David Miller.
“I have a very strong commitment to serve. This next term will be a very exciting time at city hall,” she said after filing her nomination papers.
Politics is in her blood on her father’s side the Brysons as her great, great grandfather George Sr. and great grandfather George Jr. served in the Quebec government.
That was part of the focus of a book she wrote called Blazing the Trail in the Pontiac about her forefathers who were in politics, banking and lumber industries in the 1800s.
Kris Scheuer 
As a Ward 29 resident, I’m really dismayed that Jane Pitfield shopped around among three different wards where the incumbent might have been retiring, before choosing this one. She can’t credibly claim to be committed to the people in this community.
Whoops. Gotta watch my fingers after one too many cups of coffee. Yes, thank you for keeping my facts straight!
When I first registered, I did so in Ward 29. At a series of City Hall meetings, I was told by no less than three senior Council members that Jane was “a really nice lady, someone we can work with.”
Upon hearing that (and, I’ll confess, also upon hearing Paula Fletcher call us all out), I agreed; much better to have someone in Ward 29 we can work with – and much better (for both my campaign and the city) to take a run at one of the most disrespectful councillors (Fletcher) that Toronto has ever seen.
I’ve had the chance to sit down for coffee with Jane, and I can report that my advice – and my instincts – were BANG on. Jane’s a great lady, and she cares – it shows, no matter how hard she tries – about East York and Toronto. The stuff going on at City Hall has her genuinely distressed (nice to see!)
The NDP is trying hard to promote yet another candidate for Ward 30 – Jennifer Wood – even though voters will be staying away from NDP candidates in droves – and Mary Fragedakis looks like she may make some noise – but make no mistake, Toronto – you want to listen closely to what Jane Pitfield’s saying.
After all, this is the lady most people now wish they had elected instead of David Miller.
Mark, thanks for your comments on your support for Jane Pitfield in Ward 29 and why you are running in Ward 30 against Paula Fletcher.
As well, when you say Coun. Paula Fletcher is “one of the most disrespectful councillors Toronto has ever seen” I take that with a grain of salt since you are candidate competing with her for votes.
I assume you meant to say that the NDP is pushing hard for Jennifer Wood in Ward 29 (not Ward 30) since that is where she is running. Although I’ve heard for months from councillors and NDP members that the New Democrats and left was looking for a strong candidate in Ward 29, I have not yet heard that Jennifer Wood was that candidate for them.
I am not saying she isn’t but Jennifer hasn’t told me she has that support and none of the people I spoke to earlier have indicated she is “their candidate”.