Please Vote: Harry H. Harakh on October 18-24

Tuesday, September 13, 2022

Name: Harry H. Harakh, MBA.CPA.CA

Occupation: Successful Professional Public Accountant (1980-2017)

Address/Ward:  Ward 4

Position you are running for: Councillor Ward 4

Telephone Number:  (647) 406-0533

Email: voteharry.harakh@gmail.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/harryharakh

LinkedIn: Harry Harakh

Previous political experience:

1. Current nominee for Her Majesty's Platinum Jubilee Community Hero Award as recognition of over 20 years charitable and cultural community services for the Caribbean North Charities Foundation; Cross Cultural Seniors Club and extensively contribution to mentorship of youth through their co-op programs.
2. Over 10 years governance of large publicly funded institutions, York Central Hospital, now Mackenzie health.
3. Extensive immersion into the affairs of our whole beautiful community and more recently, with great distress, dedication towards saving all the residents of “Cottage Lane”, from being converted to roadway and safety concerns for residents and children for the surrounding high schools and library and the wave pool.

Why have you decided to run?

As an energetic retiree, I would like to make a contribution to my wonderful community by bridging the gap with critical concerns and solutions. 

HOMELESSNESS has proliferated at Yonge/Major Mackenzie, overflowing onto homes on Major Mackenzie Drive and the non response by city is not an option for our or any neighbourhood. 

SUCCESSFUL AGING AT HOME is the new norm, so safety, quality of life, connected to the community, guaranteed snow removal and emergency services for all and accessible vehicle door to door, and to be enhanced.

BRING AN AWARENESS WITH A VIEW TO STOPPING the City seizure of privately owned homes, and converting the lands from residences into vehicular roadway, without any discussion of change of uses, or compensation as is required under City laws “Compensation for Expropriation”. Residents are not accredited party to seizure processes. Please consider this issue when voting in this cycle.

How will you embrace and champion diversity in this role?

My extensive experience advocating, practicing, sharing cultural norms within the Canadian mosaic is currently work in progress. I will strive for councillors, and staff to reflect the community it serves, in terms of age, gender and cultural diversity. I experienced the implementation of similar mandate as was within the Hospital Restructuring Plan implemented in Ontario in the 2000s and I will bring this to the table.

What are your top three issues?

Address a Resolution of downtown Ward 4 homelessness presence on Yonge street which is incompatible with economic and business growth. I pledge to be Always accessible and responsive to residents who are not dismissible

To initiate that all community input to the official plan update process be fact checked, to remove flawed conclusions in favour of conclusions that are equitable to all residents.

If elected, what do you plan to accomplish in your first 100 days?

Assemble a list of all the civic concerns of residents and implement a plan to resolve.

Contact and establish protocols to engage all service-providers to the homeless, churches, centres, residents and others, how to segregate the homeless persons into manageable groupings as each may have different solution sets.

Advocate for a process to make public all secret public/private agreements or that underpin development projects deemed “convoluted.”