"THE OLD GUARD’S GOT TO GO”: NATHEN MAZRI ENTERS WARD 1 RACE WITH TORONTO OS, VOWS TO DISRUPT CITY HALL
WHO IS THIS GUY REFUSING THE PAY INCREASE?
Nathen Mazri signs a public covenant to redirect the equivalent of Council’s controversial 24% pay increase back into Ward 1.
His reason: “This is not the time.
“This campaign is about returning power, accountability and value to the people who paid for it in the first place. Your home is not an ATM for City Hall. Ward 1—it’s Payback Time.” - Nathen Mazri
REXDALE, ON — August 17, 2026 — FROM GARFIELD TO CITY HALL: Technology entrepreneur, published scholar, author and former federal candidate Nathen Mazri officially entered the race for Toronto City Council in Ward 1, Etobicoke North, today, launching an insurgent campaign built around a simple message:
ETOBICOKE NORTH WILL NOT BE THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE.
Running as an independent under ALIGN. — Not Left. Not Right. Do What’s Right., Mazri says Toronto needs a new generation of leadership willing to challenge the systems, costs and political habits residents have been told to accept.
“The old guard’s got to go. City Hall is public service, not a lifetime appointment. Fresh people and fresh ideas need the opportunity to walk through those doors.”
Mazri said his perspective changed further after spending time speaking directly with Ward 1 families, small-business owners and young people.
“I expected questions. What surprised me was the love. I met people at grocery stores and on the streets who spoke openly about feeling forgotten and financially squeezed. Kids asked me to build places for them to play soccer. Young people ran up and told me, "I’d vote for you", simply because they saw someone young, professional, energetic and innovative who was actually genuine and aligned. That stays with you. These aren't statistics anymore. These are people I'm fighting for.”
Mazri says he is particularly encouraged by youth advocacy surrounding the campaign, including support from a new generation of the Ford lineage in Etobicoke that believes fresh ideas and younger leadership deserve a place in the city's future.
FROM A $369 BILLION INDUSTRY TO CITY HALL
Mazri is the founder of eGeez, an AI technology company developing infrastructure for the global licensing industry. His scholarly work examined fragmentation and the absence of standardized metadata across an estimated US$369-billion global licensing market and was published in Les Nouvelles, the journal of the Licensing Executives Society.
Before eGeez, Mazri became known for turning the Garfield cartoon brand into the GarfieldEATS restaurant concept.
Now he wants to apply the same systems mentality to government.
“I am not asking people to elect another politician. I am a systems architect. I spent years studying why a massive global industry remains fragmented and how technology can connect what doesn't work together. Now I look at City Hall and see systems that residents experience every single day that can be redesigned to work better.”
He calls that framework Toronto OS™.
Toronto OS is not software. It is Mazri's model for designing municipal government around measurable outcomes, accountability, technology and residents rather than bureaucracy.
BREAKING THE “BRAD–CHOW TRAP”
Mazri says Toronto should not have to choose between competing versions of the same political establishment.
“Toronto is stuck in what I call the Brad–Chow trap: the same City Hall political class arguing over who should manage the system. I want to redesign it. I am not looking for a political job—I am asking Ward 1 for four years to prove what a systems architect can do inside government.”
At the centre of Mazri's affordability agenda is an ambitious Property Tax Payback Plan: fight to roll residential property-tax rates back toward their pre-Chow baseline and pursue a four-year residential property-tax freeze, subject to Council approval and a credible budget that protects essential services. Mazri argues City Hall should first attack waste, duplication and inefficient spending before automatically reaching deeper into homeowners' pockets.
“My ambition doesn't end with one ward. Ward 1 is the proving ground. If Toronto OS works here—if we save people money, answer residents faster and make government accountable—I intend to take that record to the entire city in 2030. I don't want a City Hall career. I want measurable results.”
WARD 1 FIRST. TORONTO NEXT. MAYOR 2030.
WHAT A COUNCILLOR CAN DO — AND WHAT REQUIRES A FIGHT
Mazri says his platform deliberately distinguishes between matters a councillor can move through Council motions, constituency operations, budget advocacy and City oversight, and issues requiring cooperation or legislative change from Queen's Park or other levels of government.
His Ward 1 agenda includes a proposed 24/7 Chief Constituency Concierge system, combining AI-assisted intake and tracking with human constituency staff so residents can report municipal problems around the clock and follow what happened to their request.
He will also pursue stronger scrutiny of utility increases and municipal waste; safer roads and a fight against postal-code auto-insurance disparities; tighter scrutiny of Above Guideline Increase pressures on tenants; an Open for Business approach for neighbourhood entrepreneurs; compassionate but accountable homelessness reform; and Bio Harmony Toronto™, bringing the ambition of Dubai, human-centered functionality associated with Denmark and urban innovation seen in Singapore to neglected Toronto public spaces.
“Installing a park slide and showing up for a photo when election season approaches is not a youth strategy. Families I meet across Etobicoke North tell me they want to see transformational change—not occasional cosmetic improvements. Our children are asking for soccer fields, safer places to gather, opportunity and a reason to believe their neighbourhood has a future. Bio Harmony is about raising the standard of what Ward 1 should expect.”
While Toronto's Auditor General identified nearly $11 million in estimated unused software-licence costs, residents were hit with another 3.75% increase in water and garbage rates for 2026. Also, $6.3 million in actual fraud/waste losses identified through Toronto's hotline over five years. Another $4 million in potential losses caught before the money disappeared. This is why my City Hall Accountability Crackdown isn't rhetoric—Toronto needs stronger controls before asking taxpayers for another dollar. Ontario has already shown us how catastrophic weak government controls can become: a former Ministry of Education IT director was sentenced to 10 years after admitting to a $47-million fraud.
Mazri will demand operational audits and measurable savings before supporting further utility increases: “Don't tell families every increase is unavoidable while documented waste remains inside City Hall".
Mazri also wants Toronto to prepare for the next generation of AI infrastructure. Rather than opposing technology, he argues that future data centres should face serious examination of zoning compatibility, electricity and water demands, noise near residential communities and the economic benefit received by host neighbourhoods.
“I build technology. I'm not afraid of AI investment. But Ward 1 cannot simply provide land, infrastructure and community tolerance while everybody else captures the upside. Technology should create community wealth too.”
His proposed Toronto Future Fund would explore lawful mechanisms for converting major economic growth and infrastructure value into long-term benefits for Torontonians.
CITY HALL SHOULD DEMAND MORE FROM ITSELF
Mazri has also committed, if elected, to redirect the equivalent financial benefit of Council's major 2025 compensation increase away from himself and toward a transparent Ward 1 community initiative.
The increase raised councillor base compensation by approximately 24 per cent at the time.
“Families are counting grocery dollars. Renters are worried about the next increase. Drivers are being crushed by insurance. This was the wrong time for politicians to become dramatically more expensive. City Hall should demand more from itself before asking more from taxpayers.”
Mazri proposes that the money be transparently directed toward Ward 1 priorities selected with community participation, with transactions disclosed through a public Transparency Ledger.
His proposed quarterly Community Entergagement™ Forums would go further—bringing residents together with entrepreneurs, employers, investors, educators, local businesses and community organizations to network, create opportunities and participate directly in neighbourhood priorities.
FRIDAY: MAZRI TAKES HIS CAMPAIGN TO CITY HALL
Mazri is inviting residents, media and members of the public to meet him outside Toronto City Hall on Friday, August 21 at 11:45 a.m.
During the press conference, Mazri plans to break a giant symbolic cheque representing City Hall waste and unveil further details of his accountability commitments.
Residents will also be able to meet Mazri, question his proposals and speak with him one-on-one following the announcement.
“No velvet ropes. Come challenge me. Come tell me what I'm missing. Come tell me what your family needs. City Hall belongs to you.”
Mazri says Ward 1 is only the beginning of a broader argument about how Toronto should be governed.
“I care about systems because I care about people. Technology means nothing if the person waiting for help still feels abandoned. Ward 1 is where we prove a new model of government can work.”
Ward 1 first. Toronto next. Mayor 2030.
Residents can review the Ward 1 Plan and Toronto OS™, volunteer, submit community ideas, pledge support and learn more at nathenmazri.ca.
ALIGN.
Not Left. Not Right. Do What’s Right.
MEDIA CONTACT
Team Nathen Mazri
Candidate for Toronto City Councillor
Etobicoke North, Ward 1
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.nathenmazri.ca
Written by Team Mazri
August 17, 2026