Carolann Wright

Carolann Wright
Born1957
Beechville, Nova Scotia
NationalityCanadian
EducationYork University
OccupationCommunity Organizer
Known for1988 Toronto municipal election

Carolann Wright is a Canadian activist and politician. Born in Nova Scotia, Wright lived in Toronto's Regent Park neighbourhood in the 1980s, where she was chair of the community residents association.[1]

Wright was born the eldest of eight children in Beechville, Nova Scotia, a small Black community outside of Halifax, Nova Scotia where her family had lived since the 1800s. After attending Dalhousie University, she moved to Toronto in the 1970s to study commerce at York University.[2] As a result of a failed relationship, she ended up homeless and living in a homeless shelter before re-establishing herself in the Regent Park neighbourhood of Toronto. She ultimately graduated from York, and found a job as a community worker running computer literacy classes for underprivileged children.[3][4]

She ran against sitting mayor Art Eggleton in the 1988 Toronto municipal election,[5] placing second with 17% of the vote.[2] Her campaign was organized by the Basic Action Poverty Group, a group of church and community workers, and supported by "Reform Toronto", a coalition of community activists that included sitting city councillor Jack Layton and Metro Toronto councillor Roger Hollander and former councillors William Kilbourn and Allan Sparrow/ She ran on a platform of raising welfare payments by 25%, an amnesty for illegal apartments, more rooming houses.

She was the first woman of colour to run for the office, and the last prominent contender until Olivia Chow ran in 2015.[4] Wright's campaign was endorsed by Reform Toronto and the Basic Action Poverty Group. Wright ran on advocated raising increasing welfare payments by 25%, licensing more rooming houses in the city, and legalizing "illegal" apartments in subdivided houses[4]

Two years later, she ran in the 1990 Ontario general election against Ian Scott for MP of St. George—St. David, losing the election by 65 votes, after a recount.[6][7][1][5]

In the mid-1990s, she left Toronto and moved back to Nova Scotia where she has worked for a series of community organizations in Halifax, and is currently director of community economic development and strategic engagement for African Nova Scotian communities for the Halifax Regional Municipality's economic development organization, Halifax Partnership.[8][9]

  1. ^ a b Caplan, Gerald (August 26, 1990). "Two politicians with integrity". Toronto Star, pg B3. ProQuest 436250066. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
  2. ^ a b Hurst, Lynda. "Carolann Wright: Challenging the status quo on all fronts". Toronto Star, pg B5. ProQuest 436660507. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
  3. ^ McLeod, Bruce (November 4, 1988). "Folk hero activist takes on Eggleton". Toronto Star, pg A21. ProQuest 435821038. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c "Toronto's First Black Female (Almost) Mayor: An Interview with Carolann Wright-Parks". The Ethnic Aisle. October 6, 2014. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
  5. ^ a b Reid, Susan (August 8, 1990). "Poverty fighter challenging Scott". Toronto Star, pg A9. ProQuest 436253600. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  6. ^ Steele, Scott; Quinn, Hal (1993-04-12). "Rebuking the NDP". Macleans. Archived from the original on 2022-11-22. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
  7. ^ "NDP wants recount in riding Ian Scott won by small margin". Toronto Star. 1990-09-14. pp. A11. ProQuest 436264265. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
  8. ^ "Meet our team". Halifax Partnership. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
  9. ^ "Carolann Wright". Art of City Building. Retrieved 2022-12-03.