On the 7^th day of Christmas, the swans were a-swooning for…

Councillor Sarah Doucette, Ward 13, Parkdale-High Park

Do not let the prim and proper British accent with a Julie Andrews flourish fool you. Residents of Ward 13 have elected a representative to City Hall with steely resolve. Pip, pip and all that, what?

Inheriting the same stomping grounds that the then outgoing and supposedly vilified mayor, David Miller, once strode as city councillor, Doucette ousted incumbent Bill Saundercook by nearly 11% with 47% of the popular vote. Those numbers sound vaguely familiar. Where have I heard them before? Oh yeah. Rob Ford elected as mayor in a landslide with a huge mandate.

Upon assuming her council seat, Doucette was the lone rookie councillor, and only one of 6 councillors in total to vote against repealing the vehicle registration tax. So a year on, with the city and its supposed no revenue problem now desperately searching for revenue, nary a peep of woeful contrition comes from Councillor Doucette. Taking a principled stands means never having to say you’re sorry.

Perhaps Mayor Ford was unaware of the councillor’s steadfastness when he put her on the board of the Toronto Public Library, bamboozled by her accent into thinking she’d maintain a stiff upper lip when he commenced his assault on it. It’s been just the opposite, in fact. Doucette has been a tireless defender against the completely arbitrary 10% the administration seems determined to inflict upon the organization which has led to a looming showdown with Team Ford as the budget process gets down to brass tacks in the new year. The budget chief’s vow to extract the cuts from the TPL suggests he too is underestimating who he’s running up against in Councillor Doucette.

While still finding her sea legs in the rough and tumble of the council chambers, she does yeoman’s duty at the committee level. She is especially effective during public deputations, serving up a calm and reassuring presence to oftentimes nervous members of the public. During this month’s budget deputations, Councillor Doucette provided some childcare duty to a single mom who was there to speak to the committee, holding her baby while she spoke. “I have one question,” the councillor asked the deputant afterwards. “Can I keep her?”

So disarmingly civil. Just don’t mistake it for being a pushover.

— spoon full of sugarly submitted by Cityslikr

On the 10^th day of Christmas, oh god lord’s a-leaping it’s…

Raymond Cho! Ward 42, Scarborough-Rouge River

‘Cut! Cut! Cut!’

That has become the catchphrase of Councillor Raymond Cho, almost since the start of the Ford Administration. Hardly the hardest of hardcore supporters of the previous administration at City Hall, Cho was not initially so hostile to the new one. He flipped over from voting to bring in the Vehicle Registration Tax to going along with repealing it. He was prepared to ditch Transit City in favour of Mayor Ford’s new subway plan.

But then it all became about ‘Cut! Cut! Cut!’. In many ways, Councillor Cho has become the council face of Torontonians who’d initially fallen under the spell of candidate Ford and his promises of lower taxes without lower levels of service only to be shocked what his true motives were once he was elected mayor. Cut! Cut! Cut!

Cho is now as relentless a critic of the Ford Administration as there is at council. His grandfatherly approach and tentative ESL stylings belie a ferocious indignation at the direction our mayor is taking the city. Representing a section of the city severely screwed by the attempt to smother Transit City and replace it with a subway that won’t serve as many residents even in the unlikely event that it actually gets built, Councillor Raymond Cho could really make this his legacy issue. Saving transit for Scarborough.

Hell, if we’re dreaming big for the holidays here’s a honking huge wish for the new year. Councillor Cho leads the charge in disabusing residents of Scarborough of their continued schoolboy crush on Mayor Ford. Show them that the mayor’s doing them no favours whatsoever. In their neighbourhoods and communities, just like those throughout the entire city, it’s about one thing and one thing only. Tell them, Councillor Cho.

Cut! Cut! Cut!

— Ron Popeilly submitted by Cityslikr

On the 11^th day of Christmas, the pipers piped in…

Glenn De Baeremaeker! Ward 38, Scarborough Centre.

Probably the most misspelled councillor at City Hall, De Baeremaeker reminds us of no one more than the Willy Wonka of the local political scene. Childlike and wide-eyed in his enthusiasm, he is arguably the most positively passionate at council. Every time he gets up to speak, it’s as if there was no issue more important than what’s before him at that moment. There was even chocolate fondue provided by his colleagues during the council meeting this month in celebration of his 50^th birthday. So you see? Willy Wonka, chocolate…

And the toys, the toys and props Councillor De Baeremaeker (there’s just too many damn ‘e’s in that name!) brings into chambers to make a point. There was the toilet during the debate to repeal the city rebate for low flow flushers. And then there was the floating shark during the shark fin ban debate. A little levity injected into what can be a grind at council meetings sometimes.

But don’t write off Councillor De Baeremaeker as a naïf or pushover. He can drop the gloves and go bare knuckle when the need arises. During the council heat generated over the removal of the Jarvis bike lanes, he told Mayor Ford to man up and ride a mile in his biking shoes before suggesting any cyclists’ death on Jarvis would be on the mayor’s head. He was forced to apologize but the point was made. (I also have a recollection that I can’t corroborate that he dropped the f-bomb around that time too.) Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker may come across as a softie but he can be tough as nails when the chips are down.

Forget Will Wonka. From here on in, we’re going to call him the Velvet Hammer.

— cointreauly submitted by Cityslikr