Councillor Paula Fletcher has withdrawn her nomination and will no longer be running for re-election in Toronto-Danforth in the upcoming municipal elections this October.
She registered to seek another term just two days ago, but posted in a letter on X that she changed her mind following some reflection while paddleboarding on Lake Ontario Wednesday morning.
Fletcher said she thought “long and hard” about her decades-long career at City Hall and the initiatives she’s had a hand in, including the revitalization of the waterfront and efforts to bring back the Don River, “and what a difference it’s made to serve as your Councillor with Olivia Chow as our Mayor.”
“There, out on the water, I felt a sense of great calm and made a big decision. I decided to remove my name from the ballot and not seek re-election. Today, I am announcing my retirement from City Hall,” wrote the 23-year public service veteran.
She added that she received a lot of encouragement from people in the Toronto-Danforth community to run again and initially registered because “there is still so much to do.”
“But it is time to pass the torch to the next generation. It’s time for a new chapter – for our community, and for me,” she continued in the letter.
In her letter, Fletcher also cited successful projects like Biidaasige Park, a new affordable housing project at Danforth and Greenwood and the first permanent home for Le Théâtre français de Toronto.
She signed off my expressing her love for her ward and the city and said she will finish her current term in mid-November “when we will welcome our newly elected Ward 14 Councillor who I am certain will continue to work with our amazing community to do great things with you in the future.”
Fletcher’s retirement leaves another seat on city council open, along with Parkdale-High Park after Gord Perks’ retirement and Beaches-East York, where incumbent Brad Bradford is running for Mayor.
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