Cesar Palacio ( , ) is a Canadian politician. He was the Toronto city councillor for Ward 17 Davenport during the years 2003–2018. He was the first Hispanic person to be elected to Toronto's City Council.Cesar Palacio biography on the Toronto Star's website
Biography Born in Ecuador he followed his father to Toronto in 1972. Working several blue-collar jobs he first became involved in politics as a volunteer with local MP Charles Caccia. In 1985, he was hired the executive assistant to Councillor Betty Disero, and he remained in the office for several years. For a few months in 2000, he was appointed to fill the seat vacated by Dennis Fotinos, but the appointment was conditional on him not running in the subsequent election. In the 2003 Toronto election, he ran to succeed Disero and won. He also won subsequent re-election in the 2006 Toronto election. He is fluent in Italian, English, Spanish and Portuguese. He is a cousin of the late former President of Ecuador, Alfredo Palacio.
In the 2010 Toronto election, Palacio won re-election over six other candidates: Brian Bragason, Tony Letra, Maria Marques, Kar Rasaiah, Jonah Schein, and Ben Stirpe. He was one of five Councillors removed from the TTC board by council in March 2012 as a result of voting to terminate the services of the TTC General Manager Gary Webster.
Palacio ran again in the 2014 Toronto election defeating a strong challenger Alejandra Bravo. On June 11, 2015, Palacio supported the Hybrid option for the Gardiner Expressway.
Changes to the City of Toronto ward boundaries imposed by the Ontario Provincial Government of Doug Ford resulted in the disappearance of former Ward 17 Davenport in the 2018 municipal election. Palacio initially announced he would run for re-election in the new larger Ward 9 Davenport in the 2018 Toronto election but ultimately withdrew his candidacy.
Election results 2014 Toronto election, Ward 17 Candidate Votes % Cesar Palacio 8,293 46.24% Alejandra Bravo 7,840 43.71% Saeed Selvam 1,404 7.83% George Stevens 398 2.22% Total 17,935 100%
2010 Toronto election, Ward 17City of Toronto elections page Candidate Votes %Cesar Palacio 6,154 42.8 Jonah Schein 4,827 33.6 Tony Letra 2,035 14.2 Ben Stirpe 751 5.2 Maria Marques 388 2.7 Brian Bragason 125 0.9 Kar Rasaiah 94 0.7 Total 14,374 100
2006 Toronto election, Ward 17City Clerk's Official Declaration 2006 Candidate Votes %Cesar Palacio 4,82742.3Alejandra Bravo 4,54639.8Fred Dominelli 1,49113.1Cinzia Scalabrini 2111.9David Faria 2061.8Gustavo Valdez 770.7Wilson Basantes Espinoza 500.4
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