James Pasternak

James Pasternak is a Canadian politician who represents Ward 6 York Centre on the Toronto City Council. Pasternak has served on council since he was elected in 2010, representing Ward 10. He was a Toronto District School Board trustee before his election to council.

Background

Pasternak was elected to Toronto City Council in the 2010 city council election to succeed Mike Feldman in Ward 10. He was previously a Toronto District School Board trustee.
In 2012, Pasternak introduced a motion that asked City Manager Joe Pennachetti to update Toronto's anti-discrimination policy and to determine whether including Queers Against Israeli Apartheid in Pride events violated the policy. Pasternak believes "QuAIA is not there to support the Palestinian people; it’s there to bully and demonize Israel, its supporters and the Jewish community." The following year, in 2013, Pasternak continued to lead the effort to defund Toronto Pride over the use of the term Israel apartheid by its participating members.
In July 2025, he called on the Canadian government to ban Irish hip hop band Kneecap from entering Canada. In November 2025, Pasternak attended a briefing in Israel by Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel while on a trip sponsored by the Israeli government.

2006 Toronto District School Board election, Ward 5	-	-
Candidate	Votes	%
James Pasternak	6,210	62.27%
Mitchell Worsoff	1,940	19.45%
Donna Khaner	1,077	10.80%
Frank Bonavota	745	7.48%
Total	9,972	100%