Maria Rizzo - City Councillor

City Councillor

Rizzo was elected to the North York council on her third attempt, taking the city's fifth ward in the 1991 municipal election despite a concerted effort by Mayor Mel Lastman in support of her opponent. She was the only New Democrat elected to the new council, and was often critical of Lastman's relationship with local real-estate developers. In 1992, she was the only councillor to vote against a decision to write off $4.2 million debt from the firm Penta Stolp. Rizzo served on the North York Board of Health, and North York's public art committee.

Rizzo supported market-value assessment for North York properties, arguing that this would result in significant tax reductions for many in her ward. She criticized the provincial government of Bob Rae for rejecting a compromise tax plan in 1992. The following year, she strongly opposed Lastman's decision to freeze capital projects and consultant studies in the middle of a serious recession.

Somewhat surprisingly, Mayor Lastman endorsed Rizzo's bid for re-election to council in the 1994 municipal election. She was returned without difficulty, and spoke favourably of Lastman in a 1995 interview. She nevertheless criticized the mayor's proposal to privatize the city's garbage collection service, describing it as "union busting".

Rizzo supported various efforts to reduce the number of strip clubs in North York, describing them as "garbage" and "a blight on society". In 1996, she brought forward a successful motion to make North York's bars and restaurants over smoke-free by 1999. In 1997, she was responsible for having a North York park named after the explorer Giovanni Caboto, whose name is often anglicized as John Cabot.

Rizzo opposed the Mike Harris provincial government's decision to amalgamate North York and other municipalities into the City of Toronto in 1997. She expressed concern that suburban councillors were often less progressive that inner-city councillors, and suggested that social spending could be at risk under the new arrangement.

The Harris administration carried out its plans to amalgamate Toronto, and Rizzo campaigned for the new city's seventh council ward in the 1997 municipal election. Again supported by Mel Lastman, she finished third in the two-member seat. She worked for councillors Howard Moscoe and John Filion after the election.

When Judy Sgro resigned from council in 2000, Rizzo sought an appointment as her interim replacement. The appointment went instead to Paul Valenti, after a crucial endorsement from councillor George Mammoliti. Rizzo charged that Mammoliti had promised to support her, and changed his mind following pressure from Mel Lastman. Mammoliti acknowledged that he had initially promised to support Rizzo, but said that he changed his mind of his own accord and without pressure from outside sources.