The left has Progress Toronto. A new advocacy group hopes to fill gap on centre-right

A new political advocacy group in Toronto is hoping to make a mark on municipal politics — and could be a sign of an evolving role and influence of third party groups in Toronto elections. 

A Better City (ABC) Toronto formed a few months ago and is hosting a launch event Tuesday night. The group's executive director, Ariella Kimmel, bills it as a "centrist" organization, with members concerned about issues like congestion, safety and housing. 

The launch comes just months after prominent campaigning by left-wing group Progress Toronto during a municipal by-election, which saw right-wing candidate Anthony Furey defeated. 

"They're following the playbook of their political opponents," said Myer Siemiatycki, professor emeritus of politics at Toronto Metropolitan University. 

Siemiatycki sees the formation of another advocacy group with a different political perspective as a potentially "positive and constructive" move for city politics, and one that could emulate aspects of a political party system. 

Progress Toronto's impact

Kimmel, with ABC Toronto, has a background in Conservative politics and says the group includes people with Conservative and Liberal ties, as well as those without direct party affiliations. So far the group has launched petitions in opposition to Mayor Chow's proposed 6.9 per cent property tax hike, in support of banning protests outside places of worship, and in support of removing bike lanes on major streets. 

Kimmel is not shy about the fact that her group is "quite a bit in response to Progress Toronto," though she says her group will be focused on its own issues and priorities, not on Progress Toronto itself. 

Launched in 2018, Progress Toronto does advocacy work related to issues including affordable housing, transit, and investing in city infrastructure and services like libraries. 

In the 2022 municipal election, the group endorsed nine candidates, five of whom won. Progress Toronto also endorsed Oliva Chow in the 2023 mayoral by-election. Leading up to the November 2024 by-election in Don Valley West, it did not endorse a candidate, but mounted a campaign against Furey. He lost to Rachel Chernos Lin. 

Progress Toronto's executive director, Saman Tabasinejad, credits a strong volunteer base and the ability to "stretch a dollar" and campaign strategically as being key to the group's success. She says volunteers distributed more than 20,000 flyers during the recent by-election. The group's attacks on Furey focused largely on some of his past comments related to Muslims.

While there's no way to precisely measure or quantify the group's political influence, Siemiatycki says he thinks the impact "has been pretty darn significant," and he isn't surprised that a more right-leaning group has now formed. 

Tabasinejad says she takes it as "kind of a compliment." 

De facto political parties? 

Coun. Brad Bradford, one of Mayor Chow's most vocal critics on council, and himself a politician frequently criticized by Progress Toronto, is scheduled to participate in a panel discussion during ABC Toronto's launch event. 

Bradford says he hopes ABC Toronto brings "balance" and different perspectives to conversations around city politics. 

"It's no secret that there's been effectively a municipal political party in Progress Toronto," Bradford said. 

Third party organizations are allowed to advertise during municipal election campaigns and are held to a spending limit. Siemiatycki agrees that in practice, the political influence of a well organized group like Progress Toronto can be akin to political parties, and he doesn't think that's a bad thing. He says he thinks it would be healthy for democracy to see a similar group on the centre-right. 

Having groups "contributing to voter awareness" by promoting candidates with shared values and policy positions could help to combat the heavy incumbency advantage in municipal politics and, Siemiatycki hopes, boost engagement and voter turnout. 

"Suddenly candidates would be more identifiable and identified with the positions and policies they're promising to implement," he said, rather than just name recognition. 

Kimmel says ABC Toronto aims to not focus on ideology, but rather "common sense solutions." 

She says she doesn't know yet exactly what role the group might play in an election, but that for now it does plan to support councillors that are focused on policies that align with the group. 

"We want to give them an opportunity to feel like they're having a spotlight," she said. 

It's a similar approach to Progress Toronto's, where Tabasinejad says she's noticed many Torontonians "don't know how their city councillors vote," and part of her group's objective is to "just let people know."