Gord Perks

Gordon "Gord" Perks (Listen) (born 7 October 1963) is a Canadian politician and current city councillor for Toronto's Ward 4, Parkdale—High Park municipal electoral district.

Gord Perks
Gord Perks addressing a crowd in 2009.
Toronto City Councillor for (Ward 4) Parkdale–High Park
Ward 14 (2006-2018)
Assumed office
December 1, 2006
Preceded bySylvia Watson
Chair of the Toronto and East York Community Council
Assumed office
December 1, 2010
Preceded byPam McConnell
Personal details
BornOctober 7, 1963 (1963-10-07) (age 56)
NationalityCanadian
Political partyNDP
Spouse(s)Sarah Winterton
Children3
ResidenceToronto
OccupationPolitician

Perks has worked for several environmental organizations. He was a writer for Pollution Probe from 1987 to 1989 and a "Pulp and Paper" campaigner at Greenpeace Canada from 1989 to 1993. He was executive director of the Better Transportation Coalition from 1994 to 1996 and was a senior campaigner at the Toronto Environmental Alliance from 1997 until 2006 with a focus on waste reduction and public transit. He also works as an adjunct professor at the Environmental Studies department of the University of Toronto.[1]

Perks was the focus of province-wide attention when he disrupted Ontario Premier David Peterson's press conference launching the 1990 provincial election campaign.[2] As Peterson announced the election and began to make a statement as to why his government should be re-elected, Perks appeared with a briefcase chained to his wrist containing a tape recorder playing a recording of environmental promises made by Peterson, in an act of criticism of the Liberal government's environmental record.[2] Perks also heckled Peterson with a bullhorn.[3] Greenpeace and other groups inspired by Perks' disruption plagued Peterson's campaign appearances.[3]

Writer

Perks has written and co-authored a number of publications including The Green Consumer Guide (1989), Waste Less Now (1987) and Oil Drop (1989).[4][5] In addition, he has written articles for Alternatives magazine and he wrote an environmental column for Torstar-owned Eye Weekly newspaper from 2003 to 2011.[1]

Politics

Perks was a candidate for Toronto's Davenport electoral district, in the 2006 federal election. He lost by over 7,000 votes to the incumbent Liberal Party Member or Parliament, Mario Silva.

A few months later, he ran for city councillor in the nearby Ward 14, Parkdale—High Park electoral district, in the 2006 Toronto municipal election. He was endorsed by then Mayor, David Miller, and ran against a slate of 13 other candidates.[6][7] He won the highly contested race by a seven percent margin over his nearest rival.[8]

With an endorsement from The Toronto Star, Perks easily won re-election in Ward 14, over nine other candidates in the 2010 municipal election.[9][10] In his second term as councillor, Perks was named Chair of the Toronto and East York Community Council.[11] In 2011, Perks voted against scrapping the $60 vehicle registration tax.[12] He also voted against a 40 percent cut on councillors' budgets.[13] He called it "short sighted" because it did not take into account differences in the size of wards and unexpected events and emergencies.[13]

Election results
2014 Toronto election, Ward 14[14]
Candidate Votes %
Gord Perks11,63055.03%
Charmain Emerson6,81132.23%
Gus Koutoumanos1,1075.24%
Tim Kirby9684.58%
Andreas Marouchos3631.72%
Jimmy Talpa2541.20%
Total21,133100%
2010 Toronto election, Ward 14[15]
Candidate Votes %
Gord Perks8,54251.8
Ryan Hobson2,79817.0
Michael Erickson2,43414.8
7 other candidates[N 1]2,71316.5
Total16,487100
2006 Toronto election, Ward 14[16]
Candidate Votes %
Gord Perks3,81630.1
Rowena Santos2,97823.5
Ted Lojko1,87214.8
John Colautti1,64513.0
10 other candidates[N 2]2,35018.6
Total12,661100
2006 Canadian federal election: Davenport
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalMario Silva20,17251.87+1.18
New DemocraticGord Perks12,68132.61-1.52
ConservativeTheresa Rodrigues4,20210.80+1.50
GreenMark O'Brien1,4403.70-0.48
CommunistMiguel Figueroa1720.44+0.03
Canadian ActionWendy Forrest1220.31+0.02
Marxist–LeninistSarah Thompson1030.26+0.02
Total valid votes 38,892100.00
Total rejected ballots 2400.61-0.22
Turnout 39,13260.61+7.72
Elections Canada, Riding of Davenport, Electoral District 35015.
gollark: Heresy!
gollark: Something something importance is subjective.
gollark: Good computers, that is.
gollark: Of course they're important. They're basically the reason we have computers.
gollark: > An estimated total of 13 sextillion MOSFETs have been manufactured between 1960 and 2018 (at least 99.9% of all transistors), making the MOSFET the most widely manufactured device in history.[10]- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transistor

References
Notes
  1. Candidates who polled less than 1,000 votes in 2010 election were (in descending order): Bill Vrebosch, Cullen Simpson, Gus Koutoumanos, Barry Hubick, Jules-José Kerlinger, István Tar, Jimmy Talpa
  2. Candidates who polled less than 1,000 votes in 2006 election were (in descending order): David White, Tom Freeman, Walter Jarsky, Dilorece South, Anthony Quinn, Beverly Bernardo, David Hanna, Matthew Vezina, Jimmy Talpa, Barry Hubick
Citations
  1. "City Councillor Gord Perks". City Councillors. City of Toronto. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
  2. Israelson, David (August 25, 1990). "Environment ministry aide blasts Greenpeace criticism of Premier". Toronto Star. Toronto. p. A18.
  3. Walker, William (August 18, 1990). "Peterson last on Greenpeace list". Toronto Star. Toronto. p. A9.
  4. Perks, Gord (1987). Waste Less Now: final report. Toronto: Pollution Probe Foundation.
  5. Winterton, Sarah; Clutchey, Carl; Perks, Gord (1989). Oil drop : final report. Toronto: Pollution Probe Foundation. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  6. James, Royson (November 20, 2006). "The election that was, and what's next: Role for Perks?". Toronto Star. Toronto. p. B8.
  7. City Bureau (November 14, 2006). "GTA Votes: Toronto Results". Toronto Star. Toronto. p. B2.
  8. City Bureau (November 14, 2006). "Toronto Hot Races: Gord Perks Ward 14–Parkdale-High Park". Toronto Star. Toronto. p. B1.
  9. "Toronto Votes 2010 Candidates". Elections –Toronto Votes. City of Toronto. Archived from the original on June 19, 2010. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
  10. "The Star's choices for Toronto council, Wards 1-21". Toronto Star. Toronto. October 18, 2010. Archived from the original on November 30, 2011. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
  11. Nickle, David (December 8, 2010). "Gord Perks to chair Toronto and East York Community Council". Inside Toronto. Toronto. Archived from the original on November 30, 2011. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
  12. Peat, Don (December 16, 2010). "Ford plays Santa to taxpayers". Toronto Sun. Toronto. Archived from the original on November 30, 2011. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
  13. Scheuer, Kris (December 28, 2010). "Office budgets cuts short sighted: Perks". Town Crier. Toronto. Archived from the original on November 29, 2011. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
  14. "City of Toronto elections page". Archived from the original on October 28, 2014. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
  15. City of Toronto elections page Archived October 26, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  16. City Clerk's Official Declaration 2006 Archived June 7, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
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