{"id":38804,"date":"2026-08-27T16:14:59","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T20:14:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=38804"},"modified":"2026-08-27T16:15:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T20:15:11","slug":"former-mayoral-candidate-durrant-seeks-council-seat-in-ward-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/former-mayoral-candidate-durrant-seeks-council-seat-in-ward-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Former mayoral candidate Durrant seeks Council seat in Ward 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Aurora Black Community Association (ABC) founder Phiona Durrant is running to be Aurora\u2019s next Ward 2 Councillor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Durrant, who previously ran for mayor in 2022, was not initially planning to be on the ballot this year but said community feedback persuaded her that the reasons to run were greater than the reasons to step back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou miss 100 per cent of the shots you don\u2019t take,\u201d says Durrant. \u201cOne thing that hasn\u2019t changed, regardless of if I ran or didn\u2019t run, is that it\u2019s about community engagement and being a voice that is taking action in our community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The local business owner, who is completing her education as a paralegal, says a recent interaction with a customer of her former spa, Coconut Village, helped seal the deal. The customer praised Durrant for creating a welcoming, inclusive atmosphere for herself and her transgender son, and for looking for ways to bring people together rather than divide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis kind of [feedback] really humbles you because my ultimate goal is not to be put in any box,\u201d says Durrant, adding she\u2019s from the community for the community. \u201cI\u2019m very grateful that people just see me as Phiona, the girl who is showing up in our community authentically and nothing else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An Aurora resident for more than 20 years, Durrant and her family recently found their \u201cforever home\u201d in Ward 2. When looking at the possibilities for this year\u2019s municipal election, she says it was very important to run where she lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As she\u2019s gotten to know the Ward, she says she sees a community that has a large population of mature residents. If elected, she wants to engage seniors at the community, while also keeping a focus on property standards, particularly neglected rental units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also wants to address community safety amid rising crime, community cohesion, and providing further opportunities for youth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to be a cohesive Town,\u201d she says. \u201cWe have to learn to have that in kind dignity and respect for one another. We don\u2019t have to agree, but when I see someone in a grocery store, they\u2019re just my neighbour, and until we get to that understanding, we can become very divided.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said, however, she pledges to be an independent voice at the Council table should she win the support of Ward 2 voters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am not a one issue person, I\u2019m not a Black issue person, and it\u2019s very important to understand that,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen the ABC was birthed, the first [program] was for white people to come and cook \u2013 it was about how we can blend and bridge cultures. I\u2019m for the issues of the world, it\u2019s as simple as that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m always going to be an independent voice. That\u2019s so important. I don\u2019t compromise on any point. If I don\u2019t agree with you, I don\u2019t agree with you. If I agree with you, I agree with you, and I stand by that word. I\u2019m going to be communicating with everybody, but when it comes to making a decision it\u2019s my decision and the people who vote for me\u2019s decision.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aurora Black Community Association (ABC) founder Phiona Durrant is running to be Aurora\u2019s next Ward 2 Councillor. Durrant, who previously ran for mayor in 2022, was not initially planning to be on the ballot this year but said community feedback persuaded her that the reasons to run were greater than the reasons to step back. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":38805,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-a5S","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-03 17:42:00","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2026-08-27-04.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38804"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38804\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38806,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38804\/revisions\/38806"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}