Glenn De Baeremaeker wins decisive victory in Ward 38, Scarborough Centre

Voters gave Glenn De Baeremaeker another term on Monday in a decisive victory for the incumbent Ward 38 Scarborough Centre councillor.
At a victory party in the basement of his Scarborough home, surrounded by neighbours and volunteers watching the campaign results on a borrowed big-screen TV, De Baeremaeker marvelled at the wide voting margins earned by many of his incumbent colleagues.
“There was a lot of drama in the mayor’s office, but the rest of us worked hard, hard, hard and our residents recognized that,” he said. “I’m certainly very happy with the results.”
It was the fourth-straight win for De Baeremaeker, who has held the seat since 2003.
Ten other candidates challenged De Baeremaeker in the race for Ward 38, including Theo Kalafatis, a project manager in the IT industry who voiced support for light rail transit (LRT) and criticized the councillor for using public funds to host community events.
Transit has long been a hot-button issue in this eastern half of Scarborough Centre, where the debate over subway versus LRT rages on.
Early on in his third term, De Baeremaeker was on the LRT side, arguing a subway would be too expensive. Later, he changed his mind and launched a campaign to replace the Scarborough rapid transit line with a subway, a move that prompted accusations of flip-flopping. He said Scarborough residents want a subway and any politician who opposed it would pay a price.
De Baeremaeker is an environmentalist and animal welfare advocate who once unleashed a floating inflatable shark in council chamber during a debate on whether to ban shark fin soup. As a member of the Toronto Zoo’s board of management, he advocated for the controversial retirement of the zoo’s three elephants to an animal sanctuary in California, a move that took place in 2013.
The councillor was a key figure in the fight to prevent development in Scarborough’s Rouge Valley and he has pushed for increased protection of the Oak Ridges Moraine north of the city. He is also an avid cyclist who has advocated for safer road conditions.