Former Liberal MP Han Dong is running for city council
Dong resigned from the Liberal caucus in 2023
Former Liberal MP Han Dong has announced that he will run for Toronto city council this fall, sharing on social media that he has registered his candidacy in Scarborough North.
The ward’s current councillor, Jamaal Myers, is also seeking re-election.
“As a former MPP and MP, I know what it takes to get things done. I look forward to lots of interesting conversations at door steps. Exciting stuff!” Dong’s announcement said. He expanded in a statement, saying, “If elected, I will lean on my decades of political experience to leverage more resources from provincial and federal governments for Toronto and attract more investment to create more jobs in Scarborough North.”
Related: “I will not come back as a lobbyist for rich people”: An exit interview with Councillor Gord Perks
Dong resigned from the Liberal caucus in 2023, following media reports of government interference that claimed he’d lobbied for the continued imprisonment of two Canadians in China.
Dong was eventually cleared of the allegations and settled a defamation lawsuit against Global News.
His statement went on to say that “Toronto has been saddled with high living costs, inefficient administration, congestion, and a lack of long-term vision to stay competitive in the face of uncertainties arising in recent years,” and he resolved to make city hall more “fiscally prudent.” Related: The province is dragging its feet on new rules for removing unruly city councillors
Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
