Tedford hopes to bring fresh approach to Pointe-claire council

Erin Tedford moved to Pointeclaire in 2020, but she is quickly making a name for herself in municipal politics.

Tedford was the last candidate to throw her name in the ring for the council seat in the Pointe-claire Village/cedar Park district. But when the votes were counted Nov. 7, she emerged the winner of a three-way race with incumbent Claude Cousineau and François Giasson.

Tedford championed the causes of environment and protecting the village's heritage during the campaign, issues that resonated with voters in one of the West Island's oldest neighbourhoods.

Tedford, 45, is still getting her feet wet at city hall, but she hopes to bring a level of integrity to council as a strong independent voice for village residents.

“For me it's really important to be independent because I see the role of a councillor as ... an advocate for the residents and an intermediary to reflect their views.

“I'm not a partisan person. When you put people on teams they don't work together as well. They think of a winner and a loser. They fight more,” said the bilingual Tedford, who doesn't have an appetite for divisive politics.

Andrew Swidzinski, head of Pointe-claire's heritage society, encouraged her to run. He was impressed by Tedford's resumé, which includes a stint as education manager with the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) and coordinator of the Legislative Page Program at Queen's Park in Toronto. She has also taught English and history at private and public schools in Canada and Britain.

Before that, Tedford was an accomplished athlete. She was a provincial-champion rhythmic gymnast and competed nationally and internationally.

Although she grew up in Beaconsfield — her parents Pat and Bruce Tedford still live there — Erin spent time in the Pointeclaire Village as a teenager. Her first job at age 17 was at the old Calico quilting shop on Lakeshore Rd., now home to Ye Olde Orchard Pub.

Tedford said living in several major Canadian cities like Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary for nearly two decades gave her an appreciation of Pointe-claire's natural beauty as a garden city.

“I was in downtown centres for almost 20 years. Right in the middle of Calgary, London (England), Toronto and Montreal. And I moved here because of the green spaces and the trees, primarily because I found it was such a great stress relief.

“The specific reason I wanted to be here was the mature trees and green spaces. In Toronto, I watched a lot of areas change very, very quickly. Markham, Mississauga, it's all concrete, they took down every tree.”

Tedford, recently named to the city's demolition committee, wants to see any future development in the village respect the look and size of existing buildings.

“I think it's really important to limit the number of stories to two floors, and maybe three on Cartier Ave. If you start building huge condos here, it will completely destroy the character and feel of a historic village. People come here because it's quaint and small scale and human-sized.”

Tedford also appreciated that Claude Cousineau reached out to her after the election.

“He sent me a really lovely letter. I sent it to my nieces as an example of integrity and being a gentleman.”