Tony Rizzo

Tony Rizzo (born June 27, 1940) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada.

Rizzo was born in Italy and moved to Canada in 1965 by himself.

He studied engineering and obtained work as a civil engineer in the engineering dept of Metropolitan Toronto and then with Ontario Housing Corporation and then with Ontario Dept. of Public Works.

In 1971 he created Pro Masonry Ltd and in !973 Primus Masonry Ltd. . in 1989.

He is married with three children.

In 1980, Rizzo ran for a seat on the municipal council in the borough of York.

Running as a candidate supported by New Democrats, he lost to incumbent Ron Bradd.

He was also an alderman for the city of York from 1982 to 1990.

In 1982 he contested the same ward, this time without party affiliation, and won beating Bradd.

He beat Bradd again in 1985 and again in 1988.

In 1989, Rizzo was accused of underhanded electioneering in the 1988 election when he admitted to donating $700 to the campaign of Roland Saggiorato, a rival candidate shortly after Saggiorato withdrew from the race.

Rizzo claimed the donation was legal but some argued the payment was a bribe for Saggiorato withdrawing his candidacy.

Saggiorato had left the race after founding out that Ron Brad, who had encouraged him to run, had registered again as a candidate.

Later Rizzo tried unsuccessfully to appoint Saggiorato to the city's municipal Committee of Adjustment - a position that came with a $2,000 honorarium.

Saggiorato said that although he accepted the $700 as part of his election campaign, he had expected an appointment to the committee.

He said, "...the whole thing is, the committee job on the committee of adjustment, that was supposed to come."

In late 1989 to mid 1990, Rizzo became embroiled in the infamous Fairbank Park development scandal.

Rizzo was head of the committee that was considering the sale of land north of Fairbank Park.

He was a New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 to 1995 who represented the central Toronto riding of Oakwood.

In August 1990, Rizzo, when the final proposal contemplating the sale of part of the Fairbank Park went to council, Rizzo resigned as Chairman and voted against the proposal followed by councillor Nunziata, Frances Nunziata to oppose the project.

In the end aldermen Jim Fera and Tony Mandarano were convicted for receiving bribes from the developer.

Rizzo was questioned by the police but not charged.

He was elected to the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 1990, defeating Liberal incumbent Chaviva Hošek by 2,280 votes in the Toronto riding of Oakwood.

The NDP won a majority government in this election under the leadership of Bob Rae.

In his old riding, York council appointed Reverend Paul Owen to replace Rizzo as an interim alderman.

Rob Davis won the seat in a municipal election a year later.

On October 5, 1990, it was revealed that Rizzo had obtained home renovation drawings from architect Rocco Maragna in 1987.

Later on Rizzo had voted at council to approve city contracts for Maragna's architectural firm.

Rizzo admitted that he hadn't declared a conflict of interest because he didn't pay for the drawings.

He said, "When I asked for an invoice, he refused to give it to me. I should have insisted. To repay him, I took him for lunch. I should have insisted on an invoice. Maybe it would cost me less."

Rizzo wrote in a press release that "In hindsight, I see that what then seemed a small thing was an error in judgment."

Premier Bob Rae took issue with Rizzo's response, however he didn't expel him.

"It doesn't make it any easier, but bad things happen," Rae said.

Rizzo's daughter Gidget was elected as a school trustee in 1994.

In 1997 he sought a return to municipal politics.

He ran in the newly formed Ward 28 (York Eglinton) but lost to Joe Mihevc and Rob Davis.

In 2000, he ran against Howard Moscoe in Ward 15.

He accused Moscoe of interfering in a recent Toronto Transit Commission strike and of collusion with the taxicab industry.

He lost the election by 3,627 votes.

His son Luigi unsuccessfully challenged veteran municipal councillor Howard Moscoe in the 2003 municipal election.