Rob Davis is a Canadian politician. He served on the City of York council from 1991 to 1997. He was the first Black city councillor in the 200-year history of the City of York. He was elected as a member of the amalgamated Toronto City Council from 1997 to 2000. He was also the first Black city councillor of the amalgamated Toronto City Council.
In 2023, Davis unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Toronto in a by-election called as a result of the resignation of Mayor John Tory. Davis told the media that Torontonians no longer felt safe on the TTC, were struggling with the high cost of housing, and thought the council was wasting taxpayer's money on changing the name Dundas instead of helping the homeless and people who are less fortunate. Davis vowed to make Toronto safer, cleaner, and kinder.[1]
Background
Rob Davis was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. Davis was Student Council President at St. Michael's College School, Toronto, 1982/3. He graduated from St. Michael's College in 1983, attended York University, and studied Political Science. In 1985, Davis co-chaired the City of York International Youth Year Committee.
Davis was a Member of the Friends of Fairbank Park group (1990 to 1992) dedicated to preventing the sale of Fairbank Park Pool to a developer for a condo development also. This advocacy group lobbied the provincial government and the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and filed a complaint with the Metropolitan Toronto Police Service. The Fairbank Park Scandal saw two City Alderman and a Metro Councillor charged with municipal corruption on October 31, 1991. The three were tried and convicted. At age 27, he became one of Ontario's youngest elected officials when he was elected to the City of York Council (Ward 3) in November 1991. While on Council, Davis founded the Caribana Children's Parade in Little Jamaica in 1994, which brought 500,000 people to the Little Jamaica business district for ten years. Davis then created an opportunity for children to share their culture with other children. He created inter-generational opportunities between the Police, Black youth, and the greater community. He successfully moved a motion to introduce the first tax freeze in 1993. He was re-elected in 1994 as the city councillor for Ward 3 November 1994. He was the budget chief in 1997 in the City of York, and that year the city brought in a zero tax hike.
Election to York city council
He was one of six new councillors elected for York in the 1991 municipal election, as city residents voted out a number of incumbents following the revelations of the Fairbank Park Scandal. Davis was the first Black Canadian elected to the York council in the city's 200-year history.
He was re-elected to the York council in the 1994 election. His council experience includes service on the Administrative Services Committee, the Works and Parks Committee, the boards of health, the Northwestern General Hospital, the York Library and the St. Clair Community Youth Services.
The City of York was amalgamated into the new City of Toronto in 1997, and Davis was elected to Toronto City Council in the 1997 election as one of two members for Ward 28. He served as chair of Toronto's crime prevention task force and, in 2000, was the driving force behind a gun buyback program which allocated fifty dollars to any city resident who surrendered a gun. The program was generally considered a success, and Davis has said that the city could collect over 2,000 guns in less than two weeks.[2] He also served as vice-chair of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) from 1997 to 2000.[3]
Davis was a right-wing councillor and often highlighted tax reduction and law-and-order issues. An ally of mayor Mel Lastman, he sought to have Howard Moscoe removed as TTC chair in 1999.[4] In 1998, Davis was one of 13 councillors to vote against same-sex benefits for city employees.[5]
Defeat
The wards in Toronto were redistributed before the 2000 election, and some sitting councillors were forced to face one another for re-election. Davis was defeated in Ward 21, losing to fellow councillor Joe Mihevc by over 3,500 votes following a very divisive contest. He sought to return to council in the 2003 campaign in Ward 33 in the eastern part of the former city of North York. Still, he was narrowly defeated by Shelley Carroll.
2003 election
During the 2003 contest, Davis supported tenant advocacy, the restoration of rent control and gas tax financing for the TTC. Acknowledging that Progressive Conservative governments at the provincial level had opposed all three initiatives, he said, "I differed with my party."[3]
He has worked as a consultant since leaving the council. In 2004, he organized a march supporting police chief Julian Fantino after it was announced that the deadlocked Toronto Police Services Board would not renew Fantino's contract.[6]
Return to politics
In April 2008, he was appointed to replace trustee Christine Nunziata, who resigned due to allegations over her spending.
Davis was appointed to Ward 6 (York) of the Toronto Catholic District School Board to replace Christine Nunziata, who was removed for missing three consecutive board meetings, on May 8, 2010. Immediately after his appointment, Davis said there needed to be an "infrastructure of integrity" in place before the Trustees could restore parent confidence and move on from the Trustee spending scandal. His first motion as trustee was to call upon the board to create an integrity commissioner position at their next meeting on May 14, 2010.[7]
^Patrick Evans. Opponents open fire on gun amnesty plan; Police optimistic about province's new program Plan branded as 'makeshift, cheap political solution.' Toronto Star, September 3, 2005. p. B03.
^ abJohn Deverell. Familiar faces running in North York; Ex-councillor, trustee top field Tenants' rights, traffic at issue. Toronto Star. October 30, 2003. p. B02.
^TTC plot foiled. Toronto Star, April 10, 1999. p. 1.
^Minutes of the Council of the City of Toronto. Wednesday, February 4, 1998. p. 184. [1]
^James Cowan. Pro-Fantino group playing politics. National Post. July 24, 2004. p. TO4.
^Cynthia Reason. Appoint integrity commissioner for TCDSB: Davis. Inside Toronto. Monday, May 12, 2008. [2]
