Frances Nunziata

Who is Frances Nunziata?

Frances Nunziata is a Toronto city councillor for Ward 11 York South-Weston. She is the sister of former Member of Parliament John Nunziata.

An accounting clerk, she became head of the Harwood Ratepayers Association. She was first elected to office in 1985 as school board trustee for the City of York School Board. In 1988 she was elected to the York city council ousting incumbent Gary Bloor.

On city council she rose to prominence as a whistleblower in the Fairbank Park affair. A deal had been made to sell part of the city park to a developer to build condominiums. Nunziata leaked material to the press illustrating irregularities in the process, leading to a police investigation of several local politicians. The affair pitted Nunziata against almost the entire York city council in a bitter debate. Nunziata took fellow councillor Nicolo Fortunato to court after he reportedly called her a "slut" and threatened to kill her.

In the 1991 elections Nunziata was vindicated as six of the eight sitting councillors lost their reelection bids while Nunziata defeated her nearest rival by a ten to one margin. Eventually two York city councillors, one Metro Toronto councillor, and the developer were jailed over the affair.