It is with sadness that I am letting the community know of the death of Howard Moscoe – my former Councillor colleague for many years, and friend to many people in the Toronto area and beyond. Howard was born on November 28, 1939. His working life started as a high school art teacher in the former North York where he became the President of the North York Teachers’ Federation and a governor of the Ontario Teachers’ Federation. His art background later fed a very successful election sign business. As a member of the New Democratic Party, he ran three times to become the MPP in the riding of Wilson Heights. Howard had a long and illustrious 31-year career as an Alderman, Metro Councillor and City Councillor starting in 1978 and ending with retirement in 2010 representing the western half of the Eglinton-Lawrence riding. Some key moments in his early political career include: - Promoting a municipal housing corporation in North York to support rent geared to income housing - In the 1980s, attending rallies against the apartheid regime in South Africa and supporting human rights efforts in Nigeria - Being an early supporter of LGBTQ issues in the early 1990s at the TTC when the community sought ad space on TTC vehicles With municipal amalgamation in 1997, Howard became the first amalgamated City of Toronto Chair of the TTC. Building a vibrant public transit infrastructure and promoting ridership growth were his key passion. He read virtually every City Council and TTC report and had an encyclopaedic memory of their content that he brought to Council and TTC meetings. He was particularly keen in his advocacy for the Wheeltrans community and taxi drivers. An example of his creative thinking was demanding condo developers to include in their sales agreement a free Metropass for the first year of residency. An example of his tenacity was the purchase of the new subway vehicles built in Thunder Bay now serving Line 1. Howard was an early and strong supporter of the move to upload the Don Valley Parkway and Gardiner Expressway to the province. His Councillor colleagues will remember him as a tenacious fighter for social justice, whether it was people living with disabilities, tenants, people without homes, transit users, and so many equity-deserving communities. He never attacked people personally but would debate urban policy with great enthusiasm, and frequent humour. And yes, he was mischievous from time to time to the delight of friend and to the fury of foe, all of which made for entertaining media. At the root of all his pranks, clever strategies and tactics, he had a lifelong commitment to struggle for a fair, just and equitable Toronto. He did it all in a “larger than life” manner which made him a complete pleasure to work with on Council. Howard’s contribution to a better Toronto has been enormous. The memory of Howard Moscoe is a blessing to us all. Rest in Peace, dear colleague and friend.