Joe Mihevc ( ; born February 24, 1954) is a Canadian politician who was appointed to represent Ward 10 Spadina—Fort York on Toronto City Council on June 1, 2022. He was previously elected to represent Ward 21 St. Paul's from 2000 to 2018, Ward 28 York Eglinton from 1998 to 2000 and was a York City Councillor from 1991 to 1997. Background Mihevc's family is originally from a small village in Slovenia. They arrived in Canada in 1948 as refugees. Mihevc grew up in Toronto districts of Dufferin and Eglinton, a working class area that borders the northwest corner of his ward. Raised Catholic, Mihevc obtained a PhD in theology and became an adjunct professor of ethics at the University of Toronto. Mihevc is a strongly progressive Catholic and has been active in social justice, human rights and anti-war issues. Political career He first ran for office in 1991 in the old City of York, and defeated incumbent Tony Mandarano, who had been facing corruption charges. Backed by the New Democratic Party, he rose to the position of deputy mayor of York. Following the amalgamation of York with five other Metropolitan Toronto municipalities, which he had opposed, Mihevc was elected to the new Toronto city council. In 2000, redistricting resulted in an election battle with the conservative councillor Rob Davis. The election was marred by an anonymous telephone campaign that painted Mihevc as anti-Semitic. Mayor of Toronto Mel Lastman endorsed Davis. He was chair of Toronto's World Youth Day, and from 2000 to 2003 was chair of the health board. He was in that position during the 2003 SARS outbreak. He also was instrumental in forcing through a ban on the use of lawn pesticides. Mihevc has been a long-time member of the Toronto Transit Commission and served as Vice-Chair from 2006 to 2010. He supported the St. Clair Avenue streetcar right-of-way. The $100 million investment in new streetcar lanes, hydro undergrounding, new gas lines, and public realm improvements has led to a rejuvenation of the St. Clair West neighbourhood. Construction was delayed by a failed lawsuit by a group of local residents. A report by a consultant for the TTC, which Councillor Mihevc had commissioned, found numerous faults with the project, among them a lack of centralized project management. This led to a number of changes to construction management protocols. Despite a high-profile challenge from former pre-amalgamation Toronto mayor