Paul M. Taylor
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Paul M. Taylor (born 1982) is a Canadian food security & anti-racism activist and former executive director of FoodShare Toronto. He is currently the co-CEO of Evenings & Weekends Consulting.
In 2020, Taylor and colleagues delivered 20,232 free food boxes to food-insecure people in Toronto. In 2022, he announced that his organization would pay interviewed job applicants $75 for their time.
Taylor ran for election as the federal member of parliament for Parkdale—High Park twice.
Early life
Taylor was born in Toronto in 1982, the second son to a mother from Saint Kitts; they grew up in a household that was reliant on government financial support. Paul attended Jarvis CI and was school president (2000-2001), he attended York University and was active in undergraduate politics, supporting the disenfranchised and politically underrepresented.
Career
Taylor was previously the executive director of Gordon Neighbourhood House, and in 2017 he became the executive director of FoodShare Toronto. In the role he is known for drawing links between food security and racism. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic he delivered 20,232 free food boxes to Canadians with food insecurity. In March 2022, he announced that FoodShare Toronto would pay all employees a living wage and pay all interviewed job applicants $75.
Taylor teaches at Simon Fraser University. He serves on the British Columbia board of directors of Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and has previously served on the board of directors of Metro Vancouver Alliance and Food Secure Canada. He is the founder of the Vancouver Food Summit and the co-chair of British Columbia's Poverty Reduction Coalition.
Taylor ran for election as the New Democratic Party candidate for Parkdale—High Park in 2019 and 2021, finishing second both times to incumbent Arif Virani. Taylor notably tightened the gap between him and Virani from 15.9 percentage point difference in 2019 to just 3.2 percentage point difference in 2021. Taylor announced on social media that he would not run in the next federal election.
Electoral record
| vte2021 Canadian federal election: Parkdale—High Park | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |
| Liberal | Arif Virani | 22,307 | 42.45 | -4.94 | $104,400.40 | |
| New Democratic | Paul M. Taylor | 20,602 | 39.21 | +7.71 | $106,004.63 | |
| Conservative | Nestor Sanajko | 6,815 | 12.97 | -0.19 | $9,183.25 | |
| People's | Wilfried Richard Alexander Danzinger | 1,642 | 3.13 | +2.07 | $724.84 | |
| Green | Diem Marchand-Lafortune | 957 | 1.82 | -4.61 | $3,873.90 | |
| Marijuana | Terry Parker | 130 | 0.25 | +0.05 | $0.00 | |
| Marxist–Leninist | Lorne Gershuny | 90 | 0.17 | +0.10 | $0.00 | |
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 52,543 | – | – | $110,699.74 | ||
| Total rejected ballots | ||||||
| Turnout | 52,543 | 65.46 | ||||
| Eligible voters | 80,265 | |||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | -6.33 | ||||
| Source: Elections Canada |
| vte2019 Canadian federal election: Parkdale—High Park | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |
| Liberal | Arif Virani | 28,852 | 47.4 | +5.36 | $104,265.06 | |
| New Democratic | Paul M. Taylor | 19,180 | 31.5 | -8.74 | $100,698.11 | |
| Conservative | Adam Pham | 8,015 | 13.2 | +0.15 | $44,890.73 | |
| Green | Nick Capra | 3,916 | 6.4 | +3.42 | $14,108.37 | |
| People's | Greg Wycliffe | 643 | 1.1 | - | none listed | |
| Communist | Alykhan Pabani | 119 | 0.2 | - | $626.57 | |
| Marijuana | Terry Parker | 119 | 0.2 | -0.13 | none listed | |
| Marxist–Leninist | Lorne Gershuny | 43 | 0.07 | -0.1 | none listed | |
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 60,887 | 100.0 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 382 | |||||
| Turnout | 61,269 | 74.0 | ||||
| Eligible voters | 82,797 | |||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | +7.05 | ||||
| Source: Elections Canada |
External links
- 2021 Globe and Mail OpEd