Giorgio Mammoliti, the former Toronto councillor whose bombastic approach to politics animated — and divided — city hall for two decades, has died.
His son Chris confirmed to the Star that he was pronounced deceased at about 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday. He said his father’s death was “unexpected.”
He was 64 years old.
Mammoliti began his political career as a provincial NDP backbencher in 1990, before being elected North York councillor in 1995. He represented the Toronto ward of York West after amalgamation, eventually
losing his re-election bid in 2018 after Premier Doug Ford slashed the size of council.
He was a colourful figure on council, known for deliberately outrageous comments and unusual proposals, such as his 2011 plan
to establish brothels on the Toronto islands. In 1999, he famously ripped off his shirt in the council chamber to protest the designation of a nude beach at Hanlan’s Point. At times he seemed to revel in antagonizing his colleagues; in 2014, he stunned members by labelling Parkdale a ”
pedophile district.”
Politically malleable, despite his NDP background Mammoliti became
a key figure in the early days of Rob Ford’s conservative administration, sitting next to the mayor and signalling to allies which way to vote with the point of his thumb. The former union president derided left-leaning critics as “communists” and later contemplated running for the Ontario PCs.
Despite his fervour for the role of Rob Ford’s attack dog, he resigned from the mayor’s executive committee in 2012 when it appeared
a judge had booted Ford from office.
In 2013, Mammoliti underwent emergency surgery after doctors located a fistula in his brain. After returning to city hall weeks later, he said the experience had changed his perspective on life and
he planned to be “a little nicer, a little calmer.” He also suggested some of his behaviour over the years might have been caused by “what was going on in my brain.”
He failed to avoid controversy in the ensuing years, however. In the 2018 council election, he was criticized for referring to s
ome residents of community housing as “cockroaches.” Comments he made suggesting Black candidates would further “segregation” were denounced as racist.
Mammoliti was the subject of numerous ethics complaints over the years. In 2014, he pleaded guilty to overspending on his 2010 election campaign, and the city integrity commissioner found he violated council’s code of conduct by accepting at least $80,000
in cash at a fundraiser. The commissioner later found
no wrongdoing in his actions related to a land deal involving
a giant flagpole.
Animals were a theme of Mammoliti’s political career. He served as chair of the Toronto Zoo board, and claimed credit for bringing two Chinese pandas to the zoo. He also led an effort to penalize dog owners who didn’t scoop their pets’ poop.
After leaving office, Mammoliti ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Wasaga Beach, and
contested the 2023 Toronto mayoral byelection. He placed 12th with just over 1,100 votes.
In recent weeks, there was no indication Mammoliti was in poor health. On Valentine’s Day, he posted to social media about attending a comedy show with family.
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