Denzil Minan-Wong, a City Council member since 1998, announced the news in a July 13 memo to Ward 16 residents, Mayor John Tory and his colleagues.
“Although a difficult decision in many ways, I believe it is time to move on to the next stage of my life,” wrote Minnan-Wong, who has served as Deputy Mayor since 2014.
A noted fiscal conservative, the representative for Don Valley East was first elected four years before Toronto’s six boroughs merged into one city.
“I was first elected in 1994 and since then there have been many changes in the city.  But in this election and since then, I have been elected on a platform of keeping taxes,” he said.
“That idea was important then.  It’s important now.  And while we must adapt to changing times and needs, we must choose our priorities responsibly so that Torontonians are not burdened with ever-higher taxes.”
Minnan-Wong said despite winning eight times in 28 years, he never forgot the people of the former Ward 34, which became Ward 16 in 2018 after the province reduced Toronto City Council from 44 seats to 25.
“They were always my inspiration, I knew they wanted responsible government.  A council that respected their tax dollars and worked to provide quality municipal services,” he said.
In his letter, the North York councilman, who is chairman of the Citizens’ Appointments and Strike Committees and Collective Bargaining Subcommittee and vice-chairman of the Executive Committee, highlighted some of his achievements during his tenure.
They include establishing the position of City Auditor General, contracting garbage collection west of Yonge Street, and negotiating “historic no-strike labor agreements.”
Also a member of the city’s Infrastructure Commission, the TTC board and Toronto Hydro, Minnan-Wong also said he and his team “were able to identify wasteful spending like the purchase of $12,000 umbrellas at the Waterfront.  And we stopped Google from taking over Toronto’s Waterfront.”
In addition, Minnan-Wong cited his efforts to save the Gardiner Expressway, develop Toronto’s first congestion management plan, implement the first separated bike lanes in the city’s south downtown, and save the Bixi bike program.
“As a TTC Commissioner I played a leading role in introducing electric buses to the TTC fleet,” he said, adding locally that he is particularly proud of the extension of the East Don Trail and the approval of the Don Mills Community Centre, which is the largest community downtown Toronto.
“I am also pleased that we are working as a community within the ward to address road safety issues in sensible ways,” he said.
As a Toronto councillor, Minnan-Wong said he always “tried to represent the landlord and the tenant equally.”
“In that regard, I remain a proud and relentless defender of the rights of property owners.  The next Council needs to listen and be more sensitive to property owners and their communities,” he said, adding that moving forward he hopes the council will invest more in roads, pay more attention to parks, address issues graffiti and will not allow housing in residential neighborhoods “without proper, thorough and authentic consultation”.
Other longtime councilors who decided not to seek re-election this year are John Filion (Ward 18, Willowdale) and Ana Bailão (Ward 9, Davenport).
Three other sitting councilors have also vacated their seats in recent months.
Former Toronto Health Board president Joe Cressy left his job as a Spadina–Fort York consultant in April to pursue a new career at George Brown College.  Cressy announced he would not seek re-election in October 2021.
Ward 13 Coun.  Kristyn Wong-Tam also resigned earlier this year to run for the provincial New Democratic Party in Toronto Centre, which she won in last month’s election.
The Etobicoke North seat previously held by Michael Ford is also open as he was elected MPP for York South-Weston.
Candidates have until August 19 to register to run for mayor or councilor of Toronto.  The city’s 2022 municipal elections will be held on October 24.