Mike Foster (Canadian politician)

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Michael Foster, often known as Mike Foster, is a former Toronto politician who served as an alderman in North York from 1978 to 1985 and ran for mayor in 1988. He also sought a seat in Ontario’s legislature as a member of the New Democratic Party (NDP).

Foster studied political science at York University and did community work before entering politics. He produced a TV program on community affairs and managed a legal aid clinic. In 1978 he worked at Etobicoke’s Welfare Action Centre.

He won a North York council seat in 1978 at age 24, defeating incumbent Marilyn Meshburg. Both candidates were progressive on labor and other issues; Foster was backed by the NDP municipal wing and the Metro Labour Council. While on council, he pushed to close a tax loophole that let oil companies pay less by classifying land as farmland and urged the province in 1984 to stop user fees for Workers’ Compensation Board cases. He was part of a reform group on council and criticized Mayor Mel Lastman’s development plans.

Foster left council in 1985, unsuccessfully ran for the Board of Control, and later ran for the Ontario legislature in Yorkview, finishing second. He then worked in communications, becoming a partner at Union Communications and writing a political column for the Toronto Star for two years. He continued to push for progressive housing, employment equity, and transportation issues.

Foster challenged Lastman again in the 1988 North York mayoral race but lost by a wide margin. A possible 1990 appointment to North York Council did not happen. In 2005 he received the Seneca College Distinguished Alumni Award and remains active with Union Communications.