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Saturday, October 19, 2019

DECISION Canada 2019 election: A closer look at GTA ridings, Vote for Marcela Ramirez, Independent Ward 10, Spadina Fort York




A voter casts a ballot. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
With less than two weeks before we head to the polls, we’re taking a look at all 25 electoral ridings in Toronto and highlighting what you need to know before you check off your ballot box.

Beaches–East York

Population (2016): 109,470
Member of Parliament: Erskine-Smith, Nathaniel (LPC)


About the riding:

  • This riding traditionally bounces between the New Democrat Party and the Liberal Party. Matthew Kellway was the NDP MP for this riding between 2011-2015. During the 2015 election Liberal candidate Nathaniel Erskine-Smith beat Kellway by over 18 per cent. Will the NDP put emphasis on stealing it back?

  • The Harper Tories were heavily-criticized four years ago for running “placeholder” candidates in ridings like this and not allowing them to speak or attend debates. However, the Conservative candidate for the 2019 election has an active campaign headquarters and quite a few lawn signs in the area. Conservative candidate Nadirah Nazeer is focusing her campaigning on being a mom, an immigrant and a Conservative

The Candidates:

Conservative: Nadirah Nazeer
NDP: Mae J. Nam
Green: Sean Manners

Davenport

Population (2016): 108,475 residents
Member of Parliament: Dzerowicz, Julie (LPC)

About the riding:

  • This riding is a Liberal stronghold. The NDP won the seat in 2011 with Andrew Cash, but that was the first time a non-Liberal candidate took the riding in 50 years. The Liberals reclaimed the riding in 2015 with Julie Dzerowicz, the first female Member of Parliament elected in Davenport.

  • NDP leader Jagmeet Singh focused on this riding during campaigning to try and swing the seat back to the New Democrats.

  • Davenport has a strong number of first-generation Canadians; many constituents are concerned about climate change and affordability.

The Candidates:

Conservative: Sanjay Bhatia
PPC: Francesco Ciardullo

Don Valley East

Population (2016): 94,580 residents
Member of Parliament: Yasmin Ratansi (Liberal)

About the riding:

  • This riding was one of seven included in the robocall controversy during the 2011 federal election. Results were being challenged in court because voters say robocalls tried to direct them to the wrong polling stations. Those ridings included Don Valley East, Winnipeg South Centre, Saskatoon-Rosetown-Biggar, Vancouver Island North, Yukon, Nipissing-Timiskaming and Elmwood-Transcona. However, in October 2012, Don Valley East was dropped from the legal case because the voter who brought the challenge forward did not live in the riding. Conservative Joe Daniel remained the MP in Don Valley East until the 2015 election.

  • Liberal candidate Yasmin Ratansi is the incumbent for this riding for the second time after holding the riding between 2004-2011. Before Daniel was elected in 2011, the riding was held by Liberals for 18 years.

  • Green candidate Dan Turcotte wrote and directed videos for the Green Party this year. The videos featured children holding signs with various messages including “if you don’t play nice with others, you won’t have any friends” in the hopes of swinging votes by avoiding attacks on other parties.

The Candidates:

Conservative: Michael Ma
Green: Dan Turcotte

Don Valley North

Population (2016): 110,075 residents
Member of Parliament: Geng Tan (Liberal)

About the riding:

  • Incumbent Liberal MP Geng Tan is not seeking re-election this year saying he wanted to “spend more time with family.” However, the Hill Times and the National Post reported Tan had an affair with one of his former staffers and is refusing to pay child support for their two-year-old daughter. Tan has denied allegations claiming the child is the result of a “sperm donation” and an agreement was made that he would not be supporting the child.

  • Tan’s wife Laura Huang entered the race hoping to be the Liberal candidate to replace her husband in the Don Valley North riding, but the Liberal Party rejected the bid. Huang issued a statement saying the party gave no reason for the rejection, adding she had signed up thousands of party members who support her.

  • Liberal candidate Han Dong is a former Toronto MPP who represented the now dissolved downtown riding of Trinity-Spadina in Kathleen Wynne’s provincial government. During his time at Queen’s Park, Dong was parliamentary assistant to the minister of energy, and parliamentary assistant to the minister responsible for the poverty reduction strategy.

  • Ex-provincial cabinet minister David Caplan was running for the Liberal candidacy in Don Valley North, but suddenly died in a household fire incident in July.

  • This riding was created from Don Valley East and York-Scarborough in 1988 to 1997. It was then dissolved into Don Valley East and Willowdale – and was re-created during the 2012 electoral redistribution. Geng Tan was the first MP to represent the riding of Don Valley East in 18 years.

The Candidates:

Liberal: Han Dong
Conservative: Sarah Fischer
PPC: Jay Sobel

Don Valley West

Population (2016): 102,505 residents
Member of Parliament: Robert Oliphant (Liberal)

About the riding:

  • This riding has bounced back and forth between Liberal and Conservative MPs since 1979. Could the Conservatives take back the riding this year?

  • Incumbent Liberal MP Rob Oliphant was re-elected in the last federal election after falling to Conservative candidate John Carmichael in the 2011 election. Carmichael served one term between 2011-2015.

  • Oliphant is the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Candidates:

Conservative: Yvonne Robertson

Eglinton–Lawrence

Population (2016): 114,395 residents
Member of Parliament: Marco Mendicino (Liberal)

About the riding:

  • Eglinton-Lawrence is a Liberal stronghold, but the Conservatives flipped the seat in 2011. The Liberals managed to win the riding back in 2015 with Marco Mendicino.

  • After reports surfaced about Conservative leader Andrew Scheer falsely claiming to be an accredited insurance broker, Mendicion wrote a letter calling on the Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority of Saskatchewan and the Insurance Councils of Saskatchewan to investigate.

  • The riding has been held by just two Liberal MP’s in 32 years between its inception in 1979 and 2011. Seven-term MP Joe Volpe was defeated by Conservative MP Joe Oliver in 2011 before it swung back to red.

Candidates:

Conservative: Chani Aryeh
Green: Reuben DeBoer

Etobicoke Centre

Population (2016): 118,025 residents
Member of Parliament: Borys Wrzesnewskyj (Liberal)

About the riding:

  • Etobicoke Centre has been a Liberal stronghold since 1993.

  • Former Conservative MP Ted Opitz (and Conservative candidate for 2019) was elected in 2011 but he faced controversy when the Ontario Superior Court declared the riding results to be null and void due to an issue with some of the votes. Opitz retained his seat after filing an appeal; he was unseated after one term by Liberal Borys Wrzesnewskyj in the 2015 federal election.

  • Wrzesnewskyj is not running again, the Conservatives think they might have a chance to take the seat.

Candidates:

Liberal: Yvan Baker
Conservative: Ted Opitz
PPC: Nicholas Serdiuk

Etobicoke–Lakeshore

Population (2016): 129,080 residents
Member of Parliament: James Maloney (Liberal)

About the riding:

  • The Etobicoke-Lakeshore riding was held by former Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff between 2006-2011, when he was unseated by Conservative Bernard Trottier.

  • The Etobicoke-Lakeshore riding was held by Liberal MPs for 18 years between 1993-2011. The seat was taken back by incumbent Liberal MP James Maloney in 2015.

Candidates:

Conservative: Barry O’Brien

Etobicoke North

Population (2016): 118,040 residents
Member of Parliament: Kirsty Duncan (Liberal)

About the riding:

  • Renata Ford is the PPC candidate for this riding. Renata is the widow of former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford. Etobicoke North is also the same riding Ontario Premier Doug Ford holds provincially, Renata’s brother-in-law.

  • This riding is a Liberal stronghold, held by the party for 31 years. Could Renata Ford steal any votes away in a riding the Liberals have held since 1998?

  • Incumbent Liberal MP Kirsty Duncan is the Minister of Science and Sport.

Candidates:

Conservative: Sarabjit Kaur
Green: Nancy Ghuman

Parkdale–High Park

Population (2016): 108,805 residents
Member of Parliament: Arif Virani (Liberal)

About the riding:

  • This riding has bounced between the Liberals and NDPs over the last five federal elections.

  • Liberal MP Sarmite Bulte held the riding between 1997-2006, NDP MP Peggy Nash won the seat in 2006, Liberal MP Gerard Kennedy won the seat in 2008, it went back to the NDP with Nash winning the seat back in 2011. It’s now flipped back to the Liberals with MP Virani.

  • Affordable housing a big issue in this riding, the Parkdale Tenants Association held a meeting in September to address the issue.

Candidates:

Conservative: Adam Pham
Green: Nick Capra
PPC: Gregory Wycliffe

Toronto–St. Paul’s

Population (2016): 107,900 residents
Member of Parliament: Carolyn Bennett (Liberal)

About the riding:

  • Toronto-St. Paul’s is a small but densely populated riding.

  • The Liberals have held this riding since 1993 (26 years).

  • Incumbent Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett went after a Tory candidate in York Centre after posting a video to Twitter showing Rachel Willson being interviewed at the 2017 March for Life anti-abortion rally in Ottawa.

Candidates:

Conservative: Jae Truesdell

Scarborough–Agincourt

Population (2016): 105,545 residents
Member of Parliament: Jean Yip (Liberal)

About this riding:

  • Incumbent Liberal MP Jean Yip is the widow of her predecessor Arnold Chan. Yip took time to help her husband with political duties during his cancer treatment. Chan died September 14, 2017. Yip won the seat after a by-election December 11, 2017.

  • This riding has been a major Liberal stronghold since 1988 (31 years). No other party has held this riding.

Candidates:

Conservative: Sean Hu
Green: Randi Ramdeen

Scarborough Centre

Population (2016): 112,600 residents
Member of Parliament: Salma Zahid (Liberal)

About the riding:

  • Liberal MP John Cannis held this riding between 1993-2011. Conservative MP Roxanne James won the seat in the 2011 election, but the seat went back to the Liberals with Salma Zahid in 2015.

  • There is a lot of Liberal support in this riding. It will be interesting to see if another party can swing the vote this year.

Candidates:

Conservative: Irshad Chaudry
NDP: Faiz Kamal
PPC: Jeremiah Vijeyaratnam
Independent: John Cannis

Scarborough–Guildwood

Population (2016): 102,385 residents
Member of Parliament: John McKay (Liberal)

About the riding:

  • This riding was created in 2003 out of parts of Scarborough East, Scarborough Southwest and Scarborough Centre.

  • Incumbent MP John McKay is the only Member of Parliament to represent this riding. He has been in the seat since 2004.

  • Many residents in this riding are concerned about local transit issues.

Candidates:

Conservative: Quintus Thuraisingham
Green: Tara McMahon
PPC: Jigna Jani

Scarborough North

Population (2016): 98,800 residents
Member of Parliament: Shaun Chen (Liberal)

About the riding:

  • Scarborough North was created in the 2012 federal electoral boundaries redistribution with parts of Scarborough—Rouge River and Scarborough—Agincourt.

  • Shaun Chen is the only MP to have served this electoral district.

  • Pedestrian safety is a big topic in this riding, after a number of deaths in Scarborough.

Candidates:

Conservative: David Kong
NDP: Yan Chen
Green: Avery Velez

Scarborough–Rouge Park

Population (2016): 102,275 residents
Member of Parliament: Gary Anandasangaree (Liberal)

About the riding:

  • Scarborough-Rouge Park is a fairly new riding created from the 2012 federal electoral redistribution with the districts of Pickering—Scarborough East, Scarborough—Rouge River and Scarborough—Guildwood.

  • The topic of racism was the focus of a candidates debate in this riding following the Justin Trudeau blackface scandal.

  • Incumbent Liberal MP Gary Anandasangaree the only Member of Parliament to ever represent this riding.

Candidates:

Conservative: Bobby Singh

Scarborough Southwest

Population (2016): 110,275 residents
Member of Parliament: Bill Blair (Liberal)

About the riding:

  • Conservative candidate Kimberly Fawcett is an Afghanistan war vet who lost her leg and 9-month-old son in a tragic car crash. Fawcett also lost a court battle in April against Veterans Affairs Canada to pay for her $30,000 prosthetic leg and signed up to run in the federal election days later. She claims Bill Blair ignored her requests for help.

  • Incumbent Liberal MP Bill Blair served as Chief of Police with Toronto Police Service between 2005-2015. Blair was appointed Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction in 2018.

  • The possible hand gun ban is a big topic of discussion in this riding.

Candidates:

Conservative: Kimberly Fawcett
Green: Amanda Cain
PPC: Italo Eratostene

Spadina–Fort York

Population (2016): 115,505 residents
Member of Parliament: Adam Vaughan (Liberal)

About the riding:

  • Incumbent Liberal MP Adam Vaughan released a complaint sent to the Commissioner of Canada Elections that called for an investigation into ads the Canadian Shooting Sports Association was running in response to the Liberal gun-control platform.

  • Spadina-Fort York is a newer riding created in the 2012 federal electoral boundaries redistribution out of parts of Trinity—Spadina and Toronto Centre.

  • Vaughan is the only MP to represent this riding.

Candidates:

Conservative: Frank Fang
NDP: Diana Yoon
Green: Dean Maher
PPC: Robert Stewart
INDEPENDENT: Marcela Ramirez

Toronto Centre

Population (2016): 103,805 residents
Member of Parliament: Bill Morneau (Liberal)

About the riding:

  • Toronto Centre was formerly held by Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland (2013-2015) after she was elected in a by-election.

  • Incumbent Liberal MP Bill Morneau has been Canada’s Minister of Finance since 2015. Morneau also says gender equality is important to him, tabling Canada’s first gender-based budget and introducing a banknote featuring civil-rights activist Viola Desmond.

  • The riding has only ever been held by the Liberals or Conservatives, but it’s been a Liberal stronghold since 1993.

Candidates:

Conservative: Ryan Lester
Green: Annamie Paul
PPC: Jean-Simon Chénard

Toronto–Danforth

Population (2016): 106,875 residents
Member of Parliament: Julie Dabrusin (Liberal)

About the riding:

  • A big topic in this riding is gun control after last summer’s shooting on July 22, 2018.

  • Former NDP leader Jack Layton held this riding for years (2004-2011). The NDP is hoping to take it back.

  • The riding was held by NDP MP Craig Scott from 2012 to 2015. Scott was elected in a by-election after the death of Jack Layton.

Candidates:

Conservative: Zia Choudhary
Green: Chris Tolley
PPC: Tara Dos Remedios

University–Rosedale

Population (2016): 104,310 residents
Member of Parliament: Chrystia Freeland (Liberal)

About the riding:

  • This is a newer riding, created in the 2012 federal electoral boundaries redistribution with parts of Trinity—Spadina and Toronto Centre.

  • Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland is the only MP to represent this riding. Before being named Foreign Affairs Minister, Freeland was International Trade Minister and is known to be one of the strongest cabinet members for the Liberals.

  • Climate issues are a big topic in this riding, with GreenPAC holding a candidate debate in this riding during the campaign trail.

Candidates:

Conservative: Helen-Claire Tingling
Green: Tim Grant
PPC: Aran Lockwood

Willowdale

Population (2016): 118,800 residents
Member of Parliament: Ali Ehsassi (Liberal)

About the riding:

  • Willowdale is a small but densely populated riding and has been held by the Liberals since 1988 with the Conservatives serving just one term between 2011-2015 with Chungsen Leung.

  • Pedestrian safety is a big topic in this riding, after the death of a 69-year-old woman in August.

  • Incumbent Liberal MPAli Ehsassi is one of the first two Canadians of Iranian descent to ever be elected to Canada’s federal Parliament.

Candidates:

Conservative: Daniel Lee
NDP: Leah Kalsi

York Centre

Population (2016): 104,320 residents
Member of Parliament: Michael Levitt (Liberal)

About the riding:

  • Incumbent Michael Levitt faces tough competition in this riding from Conservative candidate Rachel Willson with less than a point separating the two candidates as of Sept. 21.

  • Video of Conservative candidate Rachel Willson at an anti-abortion rally in 2017 surfaced this year. The Liberals used it to go after Scheer and the Conservative Party. The video was posted on Twitter by Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett.

  • The riding has been a Liberal stronghold since 1962, but it did flip to the Conservatives with Mark Adler in the seat for the 2011-2015 term.

Candidates:

Conservative: Rachel Willson
Green: Rebecca Wood
PPC: No candidate

York South–Weston

Population (2016): 116,685 residents
Member of Parliament: Ahmed Hussen (Liberal)

About the riding:

  • Liberal incumbent Ahmed Hussen serves as Immigration Minister, he is also the first Somali-Canadian elected to the House of Commons.

  • The topic of immigration is big in this riding, after Hussen got involved in a discussion on border crossing and refugees entering Canada with a Conservative candidate in the Brampton North riding.

  • This is a riding with a mostly Liberal history, but NDP MP Mike Sullivan held the seat during the 2011-2015 term

Candidates:

Conservative: Jasveen Rattan
Green: Nicki Ward

Humber River–Black Creek

Population (2016): 108,035 residents
Member of Parliament: Judy Sgro

About the riding:

  • NDP candidate Maria Augimeri is one of the ousted Toronto City councillors (with 33 years of service) after the new 25-ward system was imposed by the provincial government. Augimeri blamed the process of cutting councillors as the reason she is not in Toronto City Council anymore, saying she would have won in her old riding.

  • Liberal incumbent Judy Sgro was the former Minister of Immigration and Citizenship, appointed in 2003.

  • PPC Ania Krosinska is a model and former Playboy cover girl under the name of Charlie Riina. Many of her social media accounts serve as a platform for both her modeling work and campaigning.

Candidates:

Conservative: Iftikhar Choudry
Green: Mike Schmitz
PPC: Ania Krosinska

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