Adrian Heaps
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Adrian A. Heaps (born ) is a former politician in
Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
, Canada. He was the member of
Toronto City Council Toronto City Council is the governing body of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario. Meeting at Toronto City Hall, it comprises 25 city councillors and the mayor of Toronto. The Toronto City Council 2022–2026, current term began on Nove ...
for Scarborough Southwest Ward 35 from 2006 to 2010.


Background

Heaps is the grandson of Abraham Albert Heaps, a leader of the
Winnipeg General Strike The Winnipeg General Strike of 1919 was one of the most famous and influential strikes in Canadian history. For six weeks, May 15 to June 26, more than 30,000 strikers brought economic activity to a standstill in Winnipeg, Manitoba, which at the ...
, left-wing Member of
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in the 1920s and 1930s, and founding member of the
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF; , FCC) was a federal democratic socialism, democratic socialistThe following sources describe the CCF as a democratic socialist political party: * * * * * * and social democracy, social-democ ...
. Heaps' father, Leo, received a military cross for service in World War II and was a
New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...
candidate in the 1979 federal election in the riding of Eglinton—Lawrence, while his son Toby was a senior staffer in
Ralph Nader Ralph Nader (; born February 27, 1934) is an American lawyer and political activist involved in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes. He is a Perennial candidate, perennial presidential candidate. His 1965 book '' ...
's 2004 US presidential campaign.Donovan Vincent. Are Heaps' ideas novel or naive?; Rookie politician's proposal that councillors 'swap wards' occasionally is one example of his outside- the-box thinking. Toronto Star. November 25, 2006. pg. B3. Heaps is a former vice-president of an independent music label. In the mid-1990s he worked on a First Nation reserve near Penetanguishene,
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
. In 2004 he worked in
Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
as a volunteer for the
Canadian International Development Agency The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA; in French: ''Agence canadienne de développement international''; ''ACDI'') was a federal Canadian organization that administered foreign aid programs in developing countries. The agency was me ...
helping several municipalities with development projects.


Politics

In 1999, Heaps ran as the Liberal candidate in the 1999 provincial election in the riding of Scarborough Southwest. He finished second behind Progressive Conservative Dan Newman with 33.66% of the vote. He attempted to run again but failed to win the Liberal nomination for the 2003 provincial election. The same year he ran for Toronto City Council but came in second behind incumbent Gerry Altobello. In
2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...
, he ran again for City Councillor after Altobello was appointed a justice of the peace. Heaps ran his campaign based on delivering better services by the city. He said, "The quality of services you receive is related to the quality of the representative you have." He defeated Michelle Berardinetti by 89 votes. In early 2007, Berardinetti sued him for defamation due to an incident during the campaign. Berardinetti claimed that Heaps defamed her by distributing copies of an article in ''
The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...
'' that endorsed him two days before the election. The article by columnist John Barber who described himself as a classmate of Heaps endorsed him while belittling Berardinetti as little more than a nepotistic "pillow talker" of her MPP husband. The article, which was never distributed by Heaps, however Heaps and Berardinetti eventually settled out of court. In December, 2009, City Council voted to reimburse Heaps for both the settlement and legal expenses which amounted to $65,680. In January, 2010 Heaps elected to refuse the reimbursement. In a related matter, City Council also decided to reimburse legal fees incurred by Heaps when a group called the ''Toronto Party for a Better City'' (TPBC) requested a compliance audit on Heaps' campaign expenses. The audit committee reviewed the expenses and found no evidence of improper financing but the group appealed the decision to a higher court. The legal fees for this process amounted to $45,330. City Council also authorized an additional payment since the reimbursement was deemed a taxable benefit. TPBC and fellow councillor Doug Holyday launched a second legal action to force Heaps to repay the money. Heaps had refused the reimbursement for the defamation lawsuit but still accepted the reimbursement for the compliance audit action, although he played no role in the council meeting where this took place. Instead he chose to excuse himself from the meeting so as not display any interest in the matter. In July 2010, the Divisional Court ruled that City Council had no authority to reimburse Heaps since he was a candidate at the time and not yet a councillor. In August 2010, City Council appealed that decision and went further by declaring the money to be a 'grant' rather than a 'reimbursement'. Mayor David Miller argued that anyone running for office should not be forced into paying large legal fees. He said, "Nobody in this city, unless you're really rich, can afford to run for public office and be subjected to $70,000 in legal fees." In December 2010, the court refused the city's request for an appeal. However, the court did not force Heaps to return the money. During his time in office, he served as chair of the city's Cycling Advisory Committee and was an architect of much of Toronto's cycling route structure. He also served as chair of ''Disabilities Issues for Toronto'' and headed up committees involved in sports related activities such as the 2010 Winter Olympics torch relay and the
2015 Pan American Games The 2015 Pan American Games (), officially the XVII Pan American Games () and commonly known as the Toronto 2015 Pan-Am Games (Toronto 2015), were a major international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Pan American Games, ...
. Citing workload issues Heaps declined an offer by Mayor David Miller to sit as a councillor-at-large on the city's powerful executive committee. In the 2010 election, Heaps and Berardinetti again competed for the ward. One of the major issues was bike lanes in the ward. Berardinetti claimed that unconnected bike lanes on Pharmacy Avenue and Birchmount Road were leading some residents who lived on those streets to move out of the ward. Berardinetti, who described them as "bike lanes to nowhere", said that she would replace them with sharrows. Heaps said that the bike lanes were put in place by the previous councillor. He said that the best alternative was to link up the existing network rather than approve any more stand alone bike lanes. Heaps lost the election to Berardinetti by 2,203 votes.Councillor Heaps is also recognized for creating Warden Hilltop Community Centre - the first public building in Toronto to be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver certified featuring a geothermal heating and cooling system, green roof and solar power. In 2014, Heaps applied to be appointed by Toronto City Council to fill out the term of Ward 20 Councillor Adam Vaughan after the downtown councillor resigned his seat to successfully stand for parliament. Heaps was eliminated on the first ballot.


Election results

Results as of October 26, 2010 03:55 AM. 42 out of 42 polls.Councillor, Ward 35
. Toronto Vote 2010 election results. Last accessed December 14, 2010.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heaps, Adrian 1954 births Living people Toronto city councillors 21st-century Canadian municipal councillors