London, Ont., voters have chosen Deputy Mayor Josh Morgan to be the city’s 65th mayor.
The two-term Ward 7 councillor, and the city’s second-in-command since 2020, secured the top job on Monday night, beating out nine other candidates vying for the position, including former Liberal MPP Khalil Ramal, who ranked second.
“Thank you all so much for being here tonight. Thank you for exercising your democratic right to vote. Thank you for honouring me with the privilege of serving as your next mayor,” Morgan told supporters during an election night event at Toboggan Brewing Co. on Richmond Row.
“Now with that same enthusiasm, please join me in applauding and thanking each and every person who put their name on a ballot during this election campaign,” he continued.
“To Mr. Ramal and all of the candidates for mayor, I truly believe that there is more that unites us than divides us. We were candidates for a time, we are each of us Londoners today, tomorrow, and always.”
Unofficial results show Morgan received at least 65 per cent of the vote to Ramal’s 22 per cent. Sandie Thomas placed third with three per cent, while Sean O’Connell and Johanne Nichols finished fourth and fifth, respectively with around two per cent each.
Only about 25 per cent of London’s 281,073 eligible voters cast a ballot in the 2022 election, a new low, down from 39 per cent in 2018 and 43 per cent in 2014. Similar lackluster turnout was observed during the provincial race earlier this year.
Speaking with 980 CFPL’s Mike Stubbs at RBC Place, runner-up Khalil Ramal said the result was not what he had expected, and thanked those who had turned out to vote for him.
“I want to congratulate Josh for his victory and wish him all the luck and hopefully he’ll be able to tackle the issues we brought to the attention of all Londoners,” he said.
“Wherever I went, people, they were talking about homelessness, talking about affordability, talking about lack of safety. … It seems (it) didn’t matter much to them, and they talk about change, but it didn’t happen. At the end of the day, London’s, you know, decided not to have any change.”
Morgan will take the reins next month from outgoing Mayor Ed Holder, who announced earlier this year that he would depart from political life at the end of the current council term, making him the third London mayor in a row to serve a single term. Holder endorsed Morgan’s campaign in August.
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The mayor-elect and the new council will meet for the first time on Nov. 15, kicking off what’s expected to be a bustling council term, a contrast to the otherwise unremarkable municipal race, with affordability, climate change, crime, homelessness, racism and public transit among the top issues on the agenda.
Roughly half of the new 15-member council will be comprised of new faces. Five ward races were wide open heading into the 2022 campaign, as Morgan ran for mayor and four other incumbents chose not to seek re-election. Three incumbents who did run — Michael Van Host in Ward 1, Mariam Hamou in Ward 6, and John Fyfe-Millar in Ward 13 — were defeated, Fyfe-Millar by less than 40 votes.
“We will be dealing with issues, not insults. … Our task, our responsibility, and our collective challenge is to determine the most effective solutions. As mayor, that is my focus. As mayor, I pledge to respect that while my voice may be an important one, it is not the only one,” Morgan said.
“Each of my 14 new colleagues will be representatives of tens of thousands of Londoners, each with their own ideas, their own beliefs on how to address the most pressing issues in our city. And I intend to serve as a mayor for all Londoners. Londoners who voted for me. Londoners who voted for someone else. And Londoners who didn’t vote at all.”
The new council could also be see Morgan gain so-called strong mayor powers, something the province has said it plans to expand to other large municipalities in a year.
The powers, which are expected to come into effect in Ottawa and Toronto soon, give mayors, among other things, veto power over bylaws that conflict with provincial priorities, such as building housing. A council could override the mayor’s veto with a two-thirds majority vote.
Morgan has previously told Global News that he’s “all in” for municipalities having more power over local decision-making, but has said he believes elected councils can decide how those powers are distributed.
The 44-year-old father of four entered the 2022 municipal race in May, becoming the second mayoral candidate to file papers with the city’s elections office.
Morgan campaigned on several ambitious pledges, including a plan to build 50,000 new homes in the city within 10 years and open at least 200 new housing spaces for the city’s most vulnerable, and received the endorsement of three local MPs and the London and District Labour Council.
On Monday night, Morgan was joined at the podium by his wife and three of his four children. His kids, he said, are his moral compass. “My youngest, Archer, who’s only two, he’s fast asleep at home, I hope,” he joked.
“When I say politics is a force for good, I am undeniably influenced by the moral and ethical example I set for my children. That shapes not only who I am as a father, but my politics as your next mayor,” he said.
“I have a stubborn and unrelenting hope that my children, your children, your grandchildren, your nieces and nephews, that they can grow up in a world where politics is seen as an honourable profession, where politics is seen as a positive force in our community.
“However, this cannot be achieved by simple words on election night. This can only be done in the days and weeks and months ahead through clear and decisive action.”
Climate change was among the key pillars of Morgan’s campaign, alongside housing and affordability, mental health and addictions, inclusive, safe, and vibrant neighbourhoods, and economic prosperity.
Morgan pledged to implement the city’s Climate Emergency Action Plan, to complete the rollout of the long-awaited green bin program, to finalize the city’s Master Mobility Plan within a year of taking office, and to support the move to electric vehicles through new charging stations and the electrification of the city’s transit fleet.
Morgan’s platform also includeed economic pledges to direct the London Economic Development Corporation to focus on attracting employers to vacant downtown commercial space, to expand transit to industrial areas of the city, and to ensure senior levels of government hold to their commitments to improve Via Rail and GO train service in the city.
The mayor-elect has also pledged to make “unprecedented investments” in city parks and community spaces, and to support additional investments in police operations, including a request for 50 new front-line officers in response to a growing demand for service.
— with files from Andrew Graham
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