Glenn De Baeremaeker

Who is Glenn De Baeremaeker?

Glenn De Baeremaeker is a city councillor in Toronto, Canada, who represents Ward 38, one of the two Scarborough Centre wards. The son of a working-class family, he has a Masters in international development and spent six months in Ethiopia at the height of the 1980s famine.

He originally rose to prominence for his work with the Save the Rouge group fighting to keep the Rouge Valley area of Scarborough free from development. A strong environmentalist, De Baeremaeker is a vegan. Working as an assistant to city councillor Doug Mahood, De Baeremaeker ran for a seat on Scarborough city council in 1994 but lost to David Soknacki.

Continuing his environmental work, De Baeremaeker became one of the leaders in the effort to save the Oak Ridges Moraine from development. When Brad Duguid left city council in 2003 to run for the provincial Liberals, De Baeremaeker decided to run for the empty seat and triumphed by a wide margin.

De Baeremaeker is notable for cycling to City Hall from his home in Scarborough almost every day year round. He is a strong advocate for safer road conditions for cyclists.

De Baeremaeker is also known for his support of former Mayor David Miller's policies, in particular his support of the civic workers' deal to end the 2009 Toronto municipal strike.