Despite rumours that she’s putting an abrupt end to her four-decade career in Toronto municipal politics, Frances Nunziata says her re-election campaign is still a go.

A source had told the Toronto Sun that Nunziata was expected to make it official Friday. CityNews , meanwhile, reported Friday that it had heard from two sources that she was quitting.

Nunziata said in a brief statement Friday afternoon that while she wouldn’t comment on a rumour, she denied she was making an early exit.

“I continue to canvass. My campaign remains unchanged,” the statement said.

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Toronto city councillor since amalgamation in 1998

Nunziata has been a Toronto city councillor since amalgamation. She had already represented constituents in the old city of York for roughly a decade by the time it was officially joined with its neighbouring municipalities in 1998.

Were she to exit, it would mean that no matter how the municipal election goes on Oct. 26, Toronto City Council would have a new face at Speaker. Nunziata has served as Speaker since 2010 and the former deputy Speaker, Paula Fletcher, put an early end to her own re-election bid in August.

While a June poll by Forum put Nunziata ahead with a commanding lead , a source in the ward’s political sphere told the Sun that there is data that suggests the incumbent is in much poorer shape than that now.

When Nunziata last won in 2022, it was by a mere 94 votes over Chiara Padovani.

Even in victory, she was admonished, however, as the integrity commissioner found she had misused constituent contact information in her re-election campaign. She apologized in the council chambers in 2024, expressing “deep and sincere regret.”

Padovani, who has the endorsement of the Olivia Chow-aligned Progress Toronto, is again running in York South-Weston. Also among the presumptive front-runners in the ward is school trustee Daniel Di Giorgio.

Out with a whimper

The confusion about Nunziata’s run extends a rocky stretch of her political career.

In August, the Sun reported that while she was advancing plans for the future of her ward’s storied Weston Lions Arena, she repeatedly told constituents that hockey “is white privilege .”

That followed the emptying out of the board of the Toronto Parking Authority. After jockeying with Fletcher at a board meeting and visiting a related parking company , she oversaw a crucial City Council vote and, at one point, shut down debate.

The pivotal vote came late at night, and Mayor Chow was at first absent from the debate, busy attending a fundraiser. Councillor Brad Bradford, who is now Chow’s key rival in her own re-election bid, accused colleagues of waiting for “ the cover of darkness ” after most reporters had left City Hall.

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The conflicting reports about her political future come amid what looks like disarray within Nunziata’s own office. She has largely shrugged off questions from the Sun about a paid consultant who has ties not only to her office, but also a local real estate developer and a Weston BIA.

Her 2026 re-election bid was disorderly from the start.

Representatives had been telling reporters for months that she had yet to make up her mind about another run before she filed her nomination papers relatively late on July 17.

On the morning of July 17, one of her representatives insisted that a Sun reporter call Nunziata, without providing details. Nunziata then spent the morning ignoring messages before finally refusing to speak with the Sun .

The next day, Nunziata announced her re-election bid in the Toronto Star .

jholmes@postmedia.com