Betty Disero is a Canadian politician, the former Lord Mayor of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. She is a former city councillor in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She was elected to the Toronto City Council in 1985, and served until her resignation in 2003. She moved to Niagara-on-the-Lake in 2009 and was first elected to town council in 2014, becoming Lord Mayor in 2018.
Early life and career
Disero's parents were Italian immigrants who moved to Toronto from the town of Pescara. She took courses at York University, and graduated in computer studies from Humber College in 1979.Susan Reid, "Disero aims for middle ground", Toronto Star, 28 May 1991, A17.
Disero is a member of the Liberal Party, and worked as a campaign manager for Member of Provincial Parliament Tony Ruprecht prior to running for office herself.Alden Baker and Geoffrey York, "Piccininni clears out of City Hall office", The Globe and Mail, 14 November 1985, A24. She was elected in 1982 as a trustee on the Toronto Catholic District School Board.
City councillor
First two terms
In 1985, Disero defeated veteran politician Joseph Piccininni to win election to the Toronto City Council. Her campaign was assisted by members of the provincial and federal Liberal parties, including Tony Ruprecht and Member of Parliament Charles Caccia.Alden Baker, "Piccininni faces political fight of a lifetime in Ward 3", The Globe and Mail, 1 November 1985; Paul Taylor, "Disero takes lead to oust Piccininni in Ward 3 battle", The Globe and Mail, 13 November 1985, A17. She was generally associated with the council's right-wing.
Disero was appointed to several important city commissions following her election. She was appointed to the Board of Directors of St. Michael's Hospital in January 1986 as a city representative, and was appointed to the city's three-member budget review group later in the same year."St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto", The Globe and Mail, 23 January 1986, B4; Zuhair Kashmeri, "Proposed Toronto budget would double day-care funds", The Globe and Mail, 26 April 1986, A16. Disero was subsequently appointed to the Toronto Harbour Commission in 1987.Paul Taylor, "City tightens control of harbor board", The Globe and Mail, 16 June 1987, A14. She sought the chairmanship of the city-services commission in late 1987, but was defeated.Paul Taylor, "Nowlan to head land-use committee", The Globe and Mail, 15 December 1987, A19.
In March 1988, Disero brought forward a controversial six-month freeze on new rooming houses for the city. Disero argued that she was not opposed to rooming houses as such, but was trying to combat abuses in the system. She also argued that she was trying to prevent neighbourhoods from being turned into ghettos. Critics argued that the freeze was an unwarranted overreaction, and made it even more difficult for the city's homeless to find affordable housing.Alexander Bruce, "Abuses cited as city halts rental conversions", The Globe and Mail, 22 March 1988, A15; "Scare tactics won rooming-house ban" (Editorial), Toronto Star, 23 March 1988, A28. Toronto Mayor Art Eggleton described it as "a completely unjustified panic move".Laurie Monsebraaten, "Mayor fuming over freeze on west-end rooming houses", Toronto Star, 27 March 1988, B5. Following criticism from the provincial government, council partially overturned the freeze in May 1988.Sean Fine, "Rooming house operators will have 'character' inspected, council says", The Globe and Mail, 17 May 1988, A16. Disero later supported separate efforts to address abuses within the system.
Disero was re-elected without opposition in 1988. In 1990, she opposed plans by the Supportive Housing Group to build affordable housing on McCormack Street. She argued that the proposed project was "too large and incompatible with the neighborhood".Jock Ferguson, "Councillors jeopardizing housing plan, group says", The Globe and Mail, 12 July 1990, A12.
She initially voted for a declaration of Toronto Gay Pride Day in 1989, but later indicated that she did so only on procedural grounds, to reopen debate at a subsequent meeting.Sean Fine, "Gay pride day declared despite mayor's objection", The Globe and Mail, 2 June 1989, A15. She voted against the declaration when the issue was reconsidered.Paul Taylor, "Pride day for gays voted down", The Globe and Mail, 16 June 1989, A1. In later years, she took steps to improve her relationship with Toronto's gay community.
Harbour Commissioner
Disero was named chair of the Toronto Harbour Commission in January 1989."Councillor Disero elected chairman of Toronto Harbour Commission", Canada NewsWire, 31 January 1989, 17:06 report. She opposed Mayor Eggleton's plan to sell THC-owned land to Dover Elevator Corp. Canada Ltd. below market value, arguing that the planned sale appeared to contravene the Ontario Municipal Act. Others criticized her position.Paul Taylor, "Efforts to keep factory downtown a test for high-priced Toronto", The Globe and Mail, 12 April 1989, A16. The deal was abandoned in April 1989."Toronto does about-face on Dover deal", Toronto Star, 22 April 1989, SA2. Disero was also critical of a plan submitted by David Crombie in late 1989 for THC reform.Laurie Monsebraaten, "Don't 'give away' Toronto port land, harbor chief says", 1 September 1989, A6.
Disero supported expansions to the Toronto's Island Airport, including increased flights and a new passenger terminal.Margaret Polanyi and Robert MacLeod, "Toronto seeks cap on Island airport flights", The Globe and Mail, 17 November 1989, A13. These plans were opposed by a local group called the Metropolitan Toronto Waterfront Coalition, and by rival councillor Jack Layton who called for Disero's impeachment.Margaret Polanyi, "New terminal approved for Island airport", The Globe and Mail, 13 December 1989, A4; Nomi Morris, "Citizens' coalition balks at expansion of island airport", Toronto Star, 8 May 1990, A20. The city initiated several legal challenges before expansion was permitted in June 1990.Tom Kerr, "Island airport expansion can go ahead, court rules", Toronto Star, 7 June 1990, A6; Susan Reid, "Toronto agrees to give permit for Island Airport terminal", Toronto Star, 26 June 1990, A7. In January 1991, the city signed a contract for expansion with Castlepoint Development Corp.Jim Wilkes, "$300 million harbor plan to include park, docks", Toronto Star, 25 January 1991, A6.
Disero resigned as THC head on July 10, 1990, but remained a member of the commission."Victims of gang attack arrested on warrants", Toronto Star, 11 July 1990, A6. She initially opposed plans for Toronto to purchase lands owned by the Harbourfront foundation, but changed her mind on the issue in 1991.Tom Kerr, "Toronto officials debate taking over Harbourfront", Toronto Star, 18 October 1990, A6; David Lewis Stein, "Harbor commission suit could make history", Toronto Star, 22 September 1991, B1. In 1994, she supported THC reforms brought forward by Mayor June Rowlands, including hiring an independent financial auditor and changing its name to the Toronto Port Authority.Jane Armstrong, "Rowlands wins fight over port authority", Toronto Star, 23 April 1994, A4.
In 1991, she brought forward a motion to have Toronto Island residents pay new rents, back rents and utility fees previously covered by the city. Critics argued that these measures would result in the death of the community.Gay Abbate, "Toronto hopes to recover $13-million from Islander", The Globe and Mail, 27 March 1991, A1. Former Member of Provincial Parliament Richard Johnston strongly criticized this suggestion in a report on the Islands released later in the year.Robert MacLeod, "Let more live on Toronto Islands, report says", The Globe and Mail, 25 May 1991, A9.
Disero endorsed a fixed link between Toronto and the Islands in late 1992."Council backs fixed link to Islands", Toronto Star, 6 October 1992, A7. In 1995, she opposed a plan to build new houses on Islands property.Paul Moloney, "City backs plan to build 30 new homes on the islands", Toronto Star, 8 November 1995, A6.
1991 mayoral campaign
Disero ran for the position of Mayor of Toronto in the 1991 municipal election but dropped out to back June Rowlands after her campaign failed to gain momentum. While in the race, she described herself as a middle-of-the-road candidate who could avoid left-wing and right-wing extremes.Tom Kerr and Jim Byers, "Disero To Run For Mayor", Toronto Star, 3 May 1991, A1. She also unveiled a "vision of Toronto's port industrial area" that included "an industrial development proposal on more than 214 hectares of public land"."Port plan unveiled", The Globe and Mail, 10 May 1991, A10. She also supported leasing unused lands to developers. She supported Sunday shopping, and criticized a report which called for fewer cars in Toronto to reduce pollution.Susan Reid, "Business-Layton showdown a bust", Toronto Star, 27 September 1991, A7; Craig McInnes, "Cut auto use in half, report urges", The Globe and Mail, 4 September 1991, A9.
After leaving the mayoral race, Disero campaigned for re-election for council in Toronto's twelfth ward. This created tensions with Fred Dominelli, a supporter who had already declared himself a candidate to succeed her.Susan Reid, "Disero decision to quit turns ally into rival", Toronto Star, 2 October 1991, A7. Dominelli claimed that Disero "stabbed him in the back" with her late decision to seek re-election.Tony Wong, "Problems enough to fill book", Toronto Star, 28 October 1991, A7. Disero won re-election without difficulty.
Early 1990s
Disero was appointed to chair Toronto's economic development committee after the 1991 election.Susan Reid, "Tough choices, tight times", Toronto Star, 1 December 1991, A12. She became involved with the arts community, and played an active role in promoting Toronto's film industry.Susan Reid, "We oughta be in pictures Toronto's telling Hollywood", Toronto Star, 4 February 1992, A6. She also opposed plans by the federal government of Brian Mulroney to privatize two terminals at Toronto Pearson International Airport."Unhappy Ottawa may keep Pearson", Toronto Star, 26 June 1992, A6. During this period, she pulled away from the right wing of council and became known as a pragmatic centrist.Bruce DeMara, "Left and right fighting for control of council", Toronto Star, 15 November 1994, E3; Bruce DeMara, "Fight for power 'intense' on new Toronto council", Toronto Star, 28 November 1994, A6.
Disero almost lost her council seat in 1992 following a private legal challenge from academic David Rayside, who argued that she had overspent in her 1991 campaign. The controversy centred on whether or not expenses from Disero's abortive mayoral campaign should have counted toward her spending limit for council: Rayside argued that her publicity expenses in the mayoral race gave her an unfair advantage over other Ward 12 candidates.David M. Rayside, "On June 1 ...", Toronto Star, 20 May 1991, A19. Presiding justice Alvin Rosenberg initially ruled against Disero, and declared her council seat vacant on April 7, 1992. The justice wrote in his decision, "Although no bad faith is implied on the part of Disero, the result of her change of offices cannot allow her to spend more money than other candidates are entitled to spend and thus give her an unfair advantage".Thomas Claridge, Craig McInnes and Robert MacLeod, "Judge bars Disero from council seat", The Globe and Mail, 8 April 1992, A11. Disero was granted a stay on April 15, which allowed her to retain her seat during the appeals process."Betty Disero can return to her city council seat", Toronto Star, 16 April 1992, A1. On June 19, an Ontario Division Court Tribunal overturned Rotenberg's decision and allowed Disero to keep her seat.Beverley Smith, "Disero wins campaign to keep seat", The Globe and Mail, 20 June 1992, A17.