Mark LeLiever Officially Launches Mayoral Campaign

May 3rd

Mark LeLiever has today officially launched his mayoral campaign. As someone who was born, raised and who worked his entire life in Toronto, the last three of those decades creating dozens of job opportunities as he built and ran businesses in the transportation and communications sectors, his frustration has forced him to take matters into his own hands and fight for this city.

Mark is running on a platform to Get Toronto Moving both physically and economically. He believes that Toronto has been held back far too long by the political establishment and he feels strongly that his business acumen and experience will bring a fresh, common-sense approach to the Mayor’s office.

“Right now we are suffocating in a city that simply doesn’t move and as a result our mental, physical and financial health is suffering,” he says.

One of Mark's key platform planks is to reduce traffic congestion. As part of this plank he promises to remove bike lanes on the major downtown Toronto corridors that severely hinder traffic flow. Mark is also proposing an incentive-based system that will reduce highway traffic by as much as 25%, and increase City revenue by up to $300 million annually.

When it comes to the TTC, because safety is paramount and people need to move about more productively, another one of Mark’s key planks is to ensure Rogers Communications and any other partner telecoms keep the ‘pedal to the metal’ so full across-the-board cell and data connectivity happen throughout the subway system within one year.

Furthermore, to help get Toronto finally moving in the right direction economically, Mark will be calling for a forensic audit of the City's books within his first week in office. He is confident the audit will uncover wasteful spending and inefficiencies that will give him the insight to reduce Toronto's 2024 budget by a minimum of 3%, or around $500 million.

He also proposes what he calls SmartStart, an initiative that promises to utilize the skills of more than two dozen successful business leaders – all volunteers willing to give their time freely to help the community – to teach entrepreneurship and leadership to disadvantaged Torontonians, or simply people wanting to take financial charge of their lives. Mark believes SmartStart won’t just create a job for each participant; for those participating, they will one day be job creators themselves.

“Toronto is in the doldrums right now. This city needs to get excited, invigorated, and inspired again. That happens when we get Toronto moving and I believe I’m the right person to lead us down that road.”