Denzil Minnan-Wong (born ) is a former Canadian politician who was the deputy mayor of Toronto from 2014 to 2022. Minnan-Wong served on Toronto City Council from 1995 to 2022, representing a succession of wards in the Don Mills. Background Born in 1963, Minnan-Wong is the son of Denzil Minnan-Wong, Sr. (a Chinese Canadian who became a prominent member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario) and Josephine Cazabon (born in Timmins, Ontario). His father died in 1988 at age 53. He was educated at Osgoode Hall Law School and became a lawyer specializing in immigration issues. He lives in Toronto with his wife Colleen and their three children. Political career In 1994 North York councillor Barry Burton died of cancer and the North York city council appointed Minnan-Wong as interim councillor for Ward 12. He was subsequently elected to the position in the November 1994 municipal election. In 1997 he was elected as one of two councillors representing Ward 11 – Don Parkway to the city council of the new amalgamated city of Toronto. In July 2022 Minnan Wong announced he would not seek re-election in the October 2022 municipal election after 28 years in elected office. Garbage collection privatization In 2011, he led an initiative to contract out garbage collection in Toronto west of Yonge Street in 2011 which projected savings of $12 million a year. As of 2021, reports published by the City of Toronto state the privatized garbage collection west of Yonge was actually costing more than the city’s in-house garbage operations, at $143.48 per household per year as opposed to the city’s garbage collection services at $139.24 per household per year. Despite this, Minnan-Wong has continued to voice his support for privatization of garbage collection services and strenuously opposes returning these services to the city’s operation. Bike lanes Although Minnan-Wong did not learn to ride a bicycle until the age of 46 in 2013, he supported the development of the first on street separated bike lane network in Toronto, resulting in the creation of the Sherbourne, Wellesley, Hoskin, Richmond and Adelaide protected cycle tracks while voting for the removal of three painted bike lanes on Jarvis Street, Pharmacy Avenue and Birchmount Road. The same year, he facilitated the move of the Bixi public bike share system to the operation of the Toronto Parking Authority. Minnan-Wong was instrumental in reaffirming the $150 fine for parking in