Politics plays a role in Toronto city council ‘class photo’ -- but so does height

Thestar.com
December 14, 2018
Francine Kopun

Councillor John Filion arrived running and breathless; Cynthia Lai wore fuchsia, and Shelley Carroll will have to be photoshopped into Toronto’s official city council photo for 2018-22.

One of the first orders of business on the morning of Thursday’s council meeting was to corral all the councillors to have their picture taken together, like a school class photo for the ages.

No one wanted to admit to spending a lot of time figuring out what to wear, but clearly, some councillors spent some time deciding what to wear for a photo that is after all, for the historical record.

It will hang prominently outside the mayor’s office for the term and then be filed away in the city archives for future generations to consult.

“It’s what all the school kids look at when they come to city hall,” said Denzil Minnan-Wong (Ward 16, Don Valley East), sporting a dapper suit and tie for the picture. The veteran councillor said it was his eighth official city council photo, including his service on North York council.

When left-leaning David Miller was Toronto mayor, Minnan-Wong, a conservative, was consigned to the background of the photo.

“I think the feeling was mutual,” said Minnan-Wong.

This year, as last term, Minnan-Wong was seated in the front row, directly on Mayor John Tory’s right. Speaker Frances Nunziata (Ward 5, York South--Weston) was seated on the mayor’s left, as she was last term. Both Minnan-Wong and Nunziata are regarded as Tory supporters.

The first row was filled with members of the mayor’s executive committee and those holding other senior posts.

Rabble rouser Gord Perks (Ward 4, Parkdale High-Park) was consigned to the back row, third from the left, a corner far from Tory, with whom he often clashes.

A seating plan is devised ahead of time, but it usually gets switched around in the last minutes, depending on height and what people are wearing, said Bev Kurmey, Toronto’s senior project manager in strategic protocol and external relations. There are conventions: members of the mayor’s executive committee get the front row.

Height is, as with all photos, a primary consideration when arranging the councillors, according to photographer Joncarlo Lista, president New Paramount Studios.

Lista was chosen through an official tendering process.

Top, the 2014 "class" photo for city council, and below, the 2018 photo. Council went from 44 seats to 25.

“We don’t want the photograph to look like a roller coaster. We want it to look like a pyramid. There just needs to be a nice flow from one side to the other,” Lista said.

His first task, said Lista, was to get the attention of councillors and put them at ease. So he told them a humorous anecdote involving his mother, which made them all laugh and suddenly focus on him.

“Keeping them at ease, that’s really important,” said Lista.

Lista was himself relaxed -- he has worked with this group before -- he took council’s picture last time. Councillor Mike Colle (Ward 8, Eglinton-Lawrence) was his geography teacher. He took Nunziata’s picture when she was mayor of York.

Councillors were encouraged to wear business attire, but the final decision is always theirs alone, said Kurmey.

“It’s certainly up to councillors to choose what they want to wear, we don’t dictate that by any stretch of the imagination.”

The councillors complied with the business attire request -- some more colourfully than others. Mark Grimes (Ward 3, Etobicoke-Lakeshore), top row, fourth from the right, wore a baby blue bow tie. Colle, top row, fourth from the left, left his attire in the hands of his favourite menswear retailer in Kensington Market and they suited him up in brown trousers, a lavender shirt and tie and dark blue blazer. Lai (Ward 23, Scarborough North), second row, second from the left, said she hewed closely to the instructions for her official portrait, wearing black and white, but she wasn’t happy with the results and so for the official group portrait, she decided on fuchsia.

“I thought I would wear something brighter this time,” she said.

It didn’t take long for the group, posing in three rows: One seated, one standing, one on a riser, to become impatient as they waited for Filion (Ward 18, Willowdale), to arrive.

“I say we all chip in and buy John an alarm clock,” said Perks.

Filion arrived on the run, to slow clapping from his peers, taking a place on the far left side of the top row. Later, he said that he finds it hard to remember to smile during the photo.

“I’m contemplating how people are going to view this picture 50 years from now,” he said.

In under a minute, the job was done. Speed is critical when it comes to taking good group photos, said Lista.

Councillor Shelley Carroll (Ward 17, Don Valley North) was unable to attend due to an illness in her family and will be photoshopped into the picture later, said Kurmey. It’s been done before.

Some things have changed little since the 2014 picture -- there are few visible minorities on council.

There have been many more changes. Three of the councillors in the 2014-2018 picture died during the term, including former mayor Rob Ford, who ran as a councillor after ill health forced him to abandon his effort to seek a second term as mayor. Pam McConnell and Ron Moeser also died in office.

Council was reduced in size from 44 councillors to 25 by legislation introduced this summer by Premier Doug Ford, a former Toronto city councillor.

More change is on the way -- Toronto has been treading water on important issues like transit for too long, critics say, and it’s time to get on with the business of building the city to better serve residents.

The photo finished, the councillors took questions from reporters on the issues of the day: pot retailers and transit.

Then it was on to council chambers and the rest of a four-year term.