Joe Pantalone is a Toronto city councillor representing one of the two Trinity—Spadina wards. Born in Sicily to a sharecropping father, he immigrated to Canada with his family at age thirteen. He attended Harbord Collegiate and then obtained a geography degree from the University of Toronto.

Entering politics, he lost four bids for a municipal seat before finally winning in 1980. In the 1987 Ontario election he ran for the NDP in the riding of Fort York but lost a very close race to Liberal Bob Wong by only 137 votes. In 1988 Pantalone was successful in his bid to be elected to the Metro Toronto council. He was the NDP challenger to regional chair Alan Tonks in 1991 and 1994, but he lost both times. On council, his most prominent role was as chairman of Exhibition Place and his push to increase the number of trees in the city.

He returned to Toronto city council with the creation of the megacity he returned in 1997. During the Mel Lastman years he served as the left's representative on the budget committee. With the election of fellow NDPer David Miller as mayor in 2003, Pantalone became a central figure at city hall. As one of Miller's three deputy mayors, Pantalone is seen as his most active and important lieutenant. In recent years, Pantalone has been active in promoting environmental issues.

External link

• Official site
• City biography