By Ryan Charkow

Population: 44,920
Voter turnout in 2006 municipal election: 38 per cent

Ward 9 encompasses much of Downsview, one of Toronto's oldest suburban neighbourhoods, featuring a large residential community and a sizeable industrial section.

Seventy-one per cent of people in the ward were born outside of Canada. Twenty-seven per cent of residents are of Italian descent compared with only five per cent for the entire city.

A large section (36 per cent) of the population has not received higher education and 21 per cent of those in the work force are in the manufacturing sector (compared with 11 per cent city wide), with 25 per cent of residents employed outside the City of Toronto.

Key Issues

Downsview Park: After CFB Downsview was decommissioned in 1996, the federal government set about making plans to turn the site into an urban park. Over the past few years, however, those plans have been abandoned and Downsview Park now appears poised to be developed into a mixed-use area with high-occupancy residential buildings, retail, a sports facility, and green space. There is concern that adding up to 20,000 new residents will create demand for services that are already pushed to the limit; population growth was negligible between 2001 and 2006.

Education and housing: The City is extending the Spadina subway line north from Downsview station through Ward 9 and all the way into Vaughan. With a quarter of the work force in the ward employed outside of Toronto, the subway extension will go a long way towards alleviating congestion and increasing access to transit within the ward.

Sunrise Propane: An explosion at Sunrise Propane in the summer of 2008 resulted in two deaths and is still fresh in many residents' minds. A report released in August put the blame on a faulty truck-to-truck transfer at the site and residents are hopeful this finding will serve them well in an upcoming class-action lawsuit. Even though most of the damage has been repaired, some residents worry that another disaster could happen. The creation in August of uniform zoning by-laws for Toronto ensures any new industrial construction will take place at least 500 metres from any residential location.

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