Frances Nunziata
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Frances Nunziata is a Toronto city councillor representing one of the two York South—Weston wards. She is the sister of former MP John Nunziata.
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 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 elections 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 Kimberly Glasco in her battle with the National Ballet of Canada.
