Frances Nunziata


Frances Nunziata, ; born c. 1950) is a Toronto city councillor for Ward 5 York South-Weston. She is the sister of former Member of Parliament John Nunziata.

Life and career

An accounting clerk, she became head of the Harwood Ratepayers Association. She was first elected to office in 1985 as school board trustee for the City of York School Board. In 1988, she was elected to the York city council, ousting incumbent Gary Bloor.
On York city council, she rose to prominence as a whistleblower in the Fairbank Park affair. A deal had been made to sell part of the city park to a developer to build condominiums. Nunziata leaked material to the press illustrating irregularities in the process, leading to a police investigation of several local politicians. The affair pitted Nunziata against almost the entire York city council in a bitter debate. Nunziata took fellow councillor Nicolo Fortunato to court after he reportedly called her a "slut" and threatened to kill her.
In the 1991 election, Nunziata was vindicated as six of the eight sitting councillors lost their reelection bids, while Nunziata defeated her nearest rival by a ten to one margin. Eventually two York city councillors, one Metro Toronto councillor, and the developer were jailed over the affair.
In the 1994 election, Nunziata chose to challenge York mayor Fergy Brown. Nunziata was considered unlikely to defeat the incumbent, but after a spirited and often bitter campaign, she emerged victorious. As mayor, she ran into her own ethics issues when it was alleged she had used city money to pay a political operative. As mayor, her main cause was an unsuccessful campaign to construct a subway line under Eglinton avenue.
With the creation of the megacity in 1997, she was elected to Toronto city council. On city council, she mostly concerned herself with law and order issues. She also was a prominent defender of Kimberley Glasco in her battle with the National Ballet of Canada.
In 2010, George Berger, an executive assistant who worked for her in 2005 brought her before a human rights tribunal, claiming harassment and discrimination during his employment. Berger claims that he was targeted due to a disability. Nunziata denied the claim. Berger was asking for monetary compensation and an apology. The judge ruled that his disability and her conduct were not related.
On December 7, 2010, she was nominated by Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday and elected as Speaker of Toronto City Council. In 2020, she voted to not defund the police.

Election results

2014 Toronto election, Ward 11--
CandidateVotes%
Frances Nunziata13,20171.334
Jose Garcia3,21217.357
Dory Chalhoub2,09311.310
Total18,506100%

2010 Toronto election, Ward 11--
CandidateVotes%
Frances Nunziata10,54466.789
Fulvio Sansone2,29014.506
Leo Marshall1,71810.882
Abdi Hashised1,2357.823
Total15,787100%

2006 Toronto election, Ward 11--
CandidateVotes%
Frances Nunziata6,46949.601
Paul Ferreira4,81236.896
Rocky Gualtieri1,2359.469
Pansy Mullings5264.033
Total13,042100%

2003 Toronto election, Ward 11--
CandidateVotes%
Frances Nunziata9,81977.984
Rosemarie Mulhall2,77222.016
Total12,591100%