Michael Layton is a Canadian politician, who was elected to Toronto City Council in the 2010 city council election to succeed Joe Pantalone in Ward 19.
Background
Layton is the son of former federal New Democratic Party (NDP) leader and former city councillor Jack Layton and his first wife Sally Halford. He is the step-son of Layton"s second wife, former NDP Member of Parliament for Trinity—Spadina and former city councillor Olivia Chow.
Career
He was re-elected in 2014. He is the great-great-grand-nephew of William Steeves, a Father of Confederation. After graduating, he worked for Environmental Defence, a national environmental charity eventually becoming deputy outreach director
He was also the coordinator for the Green Energy Acting Alliance.
He worked as a bartender and manager at a restaurant on King Street West for six years. In the 2013 Canadian Broadcasting Company Television film Jack, he is portrayed by Conrad Sweatman as an adult and Mitchell Kummen as a child.
In 2010, he ran as a candidate in Ward 19 to replace Joe Pantalone who retired to run for mayor. In 2011, fighting against proposed budget cuts by Mayor Rob Ford, Layton helped save a women"s shelter and a community pool in Stanley Park.
In 2011, Layton took issue with an advertisement for the Toronto Argonauts.
Layton claimed that it condoned domestic violence. The football team subsequently replaced the advertisement. Layton was an outspoken critic of plans to build a casino resort in downtown Toronto in 2012.
Coordinating efforts with the grassroots campaign against the casino, his motion opposing the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commissions casino expansion plans passed 40–4 at Toronto City Council.
Working with residents in the Liberty Village neighbourhood in Toronto, Layton worked to try to get cheaper fares on the regional transit system Go Transit to improve public transit in downtown Toronto. Layton pushed Toronto City council to develop a new home energy retrofit plan that passed with unanimous support in 2013 which allows homeowners to repay home energy efficiency loans over their municipal property taxes.
Layton has been voted Best Toronto City Councillor in 2012 and 2013 and was nominated in the Torontoist along with Number Casino Toronto as superheroes of 2013. Foreign the gold medal hockey game in the 2014 winter Olympics, Layton gained passage of a motion to allow bars to open earlier to serve alcohol during the game.
Membership
Layton has a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and environmental management from the University of Toronto where he was a member of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity, and a Master of Arts in environmental sciences from York University.