Rob Davis

Rob Davis (born 1964) is a Canadian politician. He served on the City of York council from 1991 to 1997. He was the first Black city councillor in the 200-year history of the City of York. He was elected as a member of the amalgamated Toronto City Council from 1997 to 2000. He was also the first Black city councillor of the amalgamated Toronto City Council.

In 2023, Davis unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Toronto.

Life and career Rob Davis was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. Davis was Student Council President at St. Michael's College School, Toronto, 1982/3. He graduated from St. Michael's College in 1983, attended York University, and studied political science.

York City Council

He was one of six new councillors elected for York in the 1991 municipal election, as city residents voted out a number of incumbents following the revelations of the Fairbank Park Scandal. At age 27, he became one of Ontario's youngest elected officials.

He was re-elected to the York council in the 1994 election. His council experience includes service on the Administrative Services Committee, the Works and Parks Committee, the boards of health, the Northwestern General Hospital, the York Library and the St. Clair Community Youth Services. Davis was the budget chief in 1997 in the City of York, and that year the city brought in a zero tax hike.

1996 Ontario by-election He campaigned for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in a 1996 by-election in York South, as a candidate of the Progressive Conservative Party when New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Bob Rae vacated his seat. Davis defeated Zubair Chowdhry for the Progressive Conservative nomination and placed third in the election with 5,093 votes (25.69%). The winner was Gerard Kennedy, who shortly afterwards sought the leadership of the Liberals. City councillor David Miller finished second for the NDP.

Toronto City Council

The City of York was amalgamated into the new City of Toronto in 1997, and Davis was elected to Toronto City Council in the 1997 election as one of two members for Ward 28. He served as chair of Toronto's crime prevention task force and, in 2000, was the driving force behind a gun buyback program which allocated fifty dollars to any city resident who surrendered a gun. He also served as vice-chair of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) from 1997 to 2000.

Davis was a right-wing councillor and an ally of mayor Mel Lastman. He sought to have Howard Moscoe removed as TTC chair in 1999. In 1998, Davis was one of 13 councillors to vote against same-sex benefits for city employees.

The wards in Toronto were redistributed before the 2000 election, and some sitting councillors were forced to face one another for re-election. Davis was defeated in Ward 21, losing to fellow councillor Joe Mihevc by over 3,500 votes following a very divisive contest. He sought to return to council in the 2003 campaign in Ward 33 in the eastern part of the former city of North York. Still, he was narrowly defeated by Shelley Carroll.

During the 2003 contest, Davis supported tenant advocacy, the restoration of rent control and gas tax financing for the TTC. Acknowledging that Progressive Conservative governments at the provincial level had opposed all three initiatives, he said, "I differed with my party."

In April 2008, he was appointed to replace trustee Christine Nunziata, who resigned due to allegations over her spending.

Davis was appointed to Ward 6 (York) of the Toronto Catholic District School Board to replace Christine Nunziata, who was removed for missing three consecutive board meetings, on May 8, 2010. Immediately after his appointment, Davis said there needed to be an "infrastructure of integrity" in place before the Trustees could restore parent confidence and move on from the Trustee spending scandal. His first motion as trustee was to call upon the board to create an integrity commissioner position at their next meeting on May 14, 2010.

In the 2010 municipal election, Davis ran unsuccessfully for Toronto City Council from Ward 15 in an attempt to replace Howard Moscoe.

In 2023, Davis ran for mayor of Toronto, ending up in 22nd place.

Election results

Source: 1991 Toronto municipal election +1994 York Election Ward 3Candidate%Rob Davis (Elected)45.20% Source: 1994 Toronto municipal election Source: Ontario provincial by-election, May 23, 1996/York South Top 2 elected****

Source: 1997 Toronto municipal election Source: 2000 Toronto municipal election Source: 2003 Toronto municipal election Source: 2010 Toronto municipal election