Toronto federal MPs elected

Federal election results in new MPs to Toronto
NDP and Conservatives made gains at Liberals expense
Kris Scheuer

NDP leader and MP was re-elected in Toronto Danforth. Photo courtesy of NDP.

Here’s  a look at the 22 Toronto elected members of parliament voted in in last night’s federal vote.
1) Beaches-East York winner NDP Matthew Kellway got 41.6% to beat out incumbent Liberal Maria Minna.
2) Davenport winner NDP Andrew Cash got 53.6% ousting Liberal incumbent Mario Silva who got 27.8%.
3) Don Valley East winner Conservative Joe Daniel got 36.7% edging out Liberal incumbent Yasmin Ratansi who got 34.5%.
4) Don Valley West Conservative John Carmichael won with 43% beating Liberal incumbent Rob Oliphant with 41.8%.
5) Eglinton-Lawrence saw another upset as Conservative Joe Oliver won with a convincing 46.8% over longtime Liberal incumbent Joe Volpe with 38.5%.
6) Etobicoke-Centre Conservative Ted Opitz squeaked out a win with 41.2% and just 26 votes over Liberal incumbent Borys Wrzenewskyj with 41.1%.
7) Etobicoke North winner was Liberal Kristy Duncan with a convincing 42.5% over Conservative Priti Lamba with 32.2%.

Eight) Etobicoke-Lakeshore Conservative Bernard Trottier pulled off a huge upset with 40.4%  booting Liberal MP and party leader Michael Ignatieff who got 35.1%.
9) Parkdale-High Park New Democrat Peggy Nash a former MP won back her seat with 47.2% beating the Liberal incumbent MP Gerard Kennedy  who got 32.9%.
10) Scarborough Centre Conservative Roxanne James won with 35.5% compared to Liberal incumbent John Cannis with 32%.
11) Scarborough Southwest New Democrat Dan Harris won here with 35% with Conservative candidate Gavan Paranchothy coming 2nd with 31.8% and Liberal Michelle Simson getting 29.1%.
12) Scarborough-Agincourt Liberal Jim Karygiannis win convincingly with 45.4% over closest rival Conservative Harry Tsai with 34.2%.

Conservative Joe Oliver beat Liberal incumbent Joe Volpe in Eglinton-Lawrence.

13) Scarborough-Guildwood Liberal John McKay was re-elected in a squeaker with 36.1% and just 600 votes more than  closest rival Conservative Chuck Konkel with 34.5%.
14) Scarborough Rouge-River NDPer Rathika Sitsabaiesan won with 40.5% over closest rivals Conservative Marlene Gallyot with 29.9% and Liberal Rana Sarkar with 27.4%.
15) St. Paul’s Liberal Carolyn Bennett was re-elected with 40.6% against closest challengers Conservative Maureen Harquail with 32.2% and NDPer William Molls with 22%.
16) Toronto Centre Liberal Bob Rae was re-elected with 40.9% over closest challengers NDP Susan Wallace with 30% and Conservative Kevin Moore with 22.6%.
17) Toronto-Danforth New Democrat MP and party leader Jack Layton easily re-captured his seat with 60.5% over closest rival Liberal Andrew Lang with 17%.
18) Trinity-Spadina NDPer Olivia Chow was re-elected with 54.1% over Liberal Christine Innes with 23.2%.

Liberal John McKay was re-elected in Scarborough-Guildwood.

19) Willowdale Conservative Chungsen Leung got 39.9% with a margin of victory of fewer than 1,000 votes over Liberal incumbent Martha Hall Findlay who got 41.7%.
20) York Centre Conservative Mark Adler pulled off a victory with 48.5% beating incumbent Liberal Ken Dryden with 33.3%.
21) York South-Weston NDPer Mike Sullivan won with 40.1% ousting Liberal incumbent Alan Tonks with 32.6%.
22) York West Liberal Judy Sgro got re-elected with 47% support over closes challengers NDP Giulio Manfrini with 27.8% and Conservative Audrey Walters with 22.1%.

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Carolyn Bennett wins St. Paul

Popular Liberal keeps her seat in St. Paul’s
Bennett bucks trend as other Liberals lost seats
Kris Scheuer
(Written for the Town Crier May 2)

What happened? Carolyn Bennett won in St. Paul's but the Liberals dropped to third party in government. Photo by Kris Scheuer/Towm Crier.

May 2 was a bittersweet night for Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett, who held onto her St. Paul’s seat but saw her once-dominant party face defeat of historic proportions.
Bennett, a popular Liberal member of parliament and former doctor, obtained about 40 percent of the vote. Though she still garnered a healthy lead, even Bennett felt the sting of Liberal backlash. In the past five federal elections, she’s garnered over 50 percent of the vote.
But the mood was decidedly sombre at her campaign party at Grano Restaurant as she and other staunch supporters watched Liberal incumbents across the country lose seat after seat.
“It’s congratulations and condolences all at the same time,” Bennett said to the crowd, acknowledging her win and the devastating Liberal defeat across the country.

Federal election results 2011

Historic change in Canada on election night
Kris Scheuer

St. Paul's MP Carolyn Bennett was one of a few dozen Liberals who held onto their seats. Photo by Kris Scheuer/Town Crier.

 Wow. What a difference a day makes.
At the beginning of May 2 before all the votes were cast, this was the make-up of parliament:
Conservatives: 143
Liberals: 77
Bloc: 47
NDP: 36
Green: 0
And by the end of election night May 2, this is how the next parliament will look according to Elections Canada at 2:19 am May 2 evening/May 3 morning:

RESULTS
Conservatives majority government with leader and Prime Minister Stephen Harper: 167 (increased 24 seats).
NDP official opposition (first time in history) with leader Jack Layton: 102 (increased 66 seats).
Liberals (third party for first time ever): 34 seats (down 43) and party leader Michael Ignatieff lost his own Etobicoke-Lakeshore riding.
Bloc: 4 seats (lost 43 seats) and the party leader Gilles Duceppe lost his own seat in Laurier-Sainte-Marie.
Greens: 1 seat (first time ever elected in Canada) with party leader Elizabeth May winning in the Saanich-Gulf Islands riding.

Parkdale-High Park federal race

Which MP do you want: past or present?
Incumbent Gerard Kennedy faces  challenge from predecessor Peggy Nash
Kris Scheuer
(Written for Town Crier April 15.)

Parkdale-High Park is a rematch between Liberal Gerard Kennedy and the NDP’s Peggy Nash.
Kennedy won the seat in 2008 when he beat first-term incumbent Nash.
This showdown mentality was on display during an all-candidates debate at Swansea Town Hall on April 13.
One of the contentious issues of the evening was Kennedy’s attendance for Parliamentary votes. Nash’s team was passing out a Globe and Mail article she said is based Hansard, the complete minutes of Parliament. An addendum to the article claims between Nov. 2008 and March 2011 Kennedy missed 122 votes and was present for 241 out of the 363 total votes.

NDP candidate and former MP Peggy Nash. Photo by Kris Scheuer/Town Crier.

Kennedy’s team countered he was present for 272 votes and 32 paired, a system whereby an opposition and a government member both agree to be absent for the vote and are not normally counted as absences, for a total attendance record of 304 votes out of 363.
The two candidates had a few exchanges regarding this at the debate at one point Kennedy appeared quite emotional as he said, “Don’t accuse me of not working hard for this community.”
He said he attended votes in Ottawa even at times when close family members were battling severe illnesses.

Layton’s Toronto-Danforth seat looks safe

Will be a challenge for Grit challenger to oust NDPer Layton
Liberal candidate Andrew Lang makes 2nd attempt win seat
Kris Scheuer
(Written for Town Crier April 8.)

Jack Layton at any NDP rally in March at Toronto's Wychwood Barns. Tristan Carter/Town Crier file photo.

The Green Party’s Elizabeth May notwithstanding, it’s safe to say that federal party leaders easily win their seats in the House of Commons seat whether or not they’re present in their riding during an election campaign.
If that’s a given, then the Toronto-Danforth race is Jack Layton’s to lose. Not only is he party leader of the New Democrats, he’s an incumbent who’s represented the riding in some form or another since 1994. Still, Layton has challengers from all the major parties, including Liberal Andrew Lang, who ran unsuccessfully against Layton in 2008.
“The longer you are an incumbent the more people become comfortable with you,” says Nelson Wiseman, a politics professor at the University of Toronto. “The longer you are a party leader, the more it contributes to your credibility.”
Layton became party leader in 2003 and in 2004 he beat incumbent Toronto-Danforth Liberal MP Dennis Mills. Layton was re-elected in 2006 and 2008.
As expected, Layton has been criss-crossing the country since the election writ dropped on March 26.
“I am grateful for the understanding of my local constituents that I can’t campaign as often in Toronto-Danforth, but I make up for it between elections by being in my riding frequently for events,” Layton said from British Columbia on April 7.
Layton served on Toronto City Council and Metro Council from 1982 to 2003 before entering federal politics. 

Canadian federal election 2011

Who holds power now
Kris Scheuer

PM Stephen Harper will be facing voters in a spring election. Town Crier file photo.

So a federal election is on for May 2.
Click on the Green Party, Conservatives, NDP and Liberals to see who each of those parties are running as federal candidates in Toronto ridings.
The Liberal Party’s motion expressing non-confidence in the current Conservative government over issues of contempt of Parliament passed 156-145 today.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper will formally ask Governor General David Johnston to dissolve Canada’s 4oth Parliament tomorrow.
Here’s a low down on who all the current MPs are now.
What will new parliament look like post election?
Quick Facts:
There are 308 seats up for grabs.
There are 305 current Members of Parliament and three vacant seats, click here for the full list.
Current representation across Canada is:
Conservative MPs: 143
Liberal Party MPs: 77
Bloc Quebecois MPs: 47
New Democratic Party MPs: 36
Independents MPs: Helena Guergis (Independent Conservative) and Andre Arthur
Vacant seats of 3: Calgary Centre-North in Alberta, Prince George-Peace River in B.C., and Haute-Gaspesie-La Mitis-Matane-Matapedia in Quebec.
In Toronto there are 22 federal seats with 2 New Democrat MPs and 20 Liberals elected here currently.
Here’s the breakdown of the current reps in Toronto ridings.

Willowdale MPP David Zimmer seeks re-election

Tories set sights on Willowdale riding
But Liberal Zimmer vows to defend his seat
Kris Scheuer
(Written for Town Crier March 3)

Liberal MPP David Zimmer seeks a third term in Willowdale. Photo courtesy of David Zimmer.

Liberal MPP David Zimmer knows the Progressive Conservatives have set their sights on Willowdale, but he’s ready to fight to keep his seat in the upcoming provincial election.
He first came to power in 2003 beating then PC incumbent David Young.
“All the pundits, polls, newspapers and blogs in 2003 (stated) the conventional wisdom was Conservatives would lose all seats in 416 except Willowdale,” recalls Zimmer.
The commentators were mostly correct as the PCs lost all their Toronto seats including Willowdale.
“David Young was a good candidate, a lawyer. I know him and we had a good campaign,” said Zimmer, also a lawyer by trade. “I won by 2,000 votes.”
Fast forward to the 2007 provincial race and then PC leader John Tory looked closely at running in Willowdale against Zimmer but settled on Don Valley West where he eventually lost to Kathleen Wynne. The PCs ran Willowdale Councillor David Shiner as a star candidate, but Zimmer held on, beating Shiner by almost 6,000 votes.
“This year the Tories are anxious to try and get Willowdale,” Zimmer said.

MPP Monte Kwinter seeks 8th term

Oldest member of provincial parliament runs again
Kris Scheuer
(Written March 3 for Town Crier)

Liberal Monte Kwinter, first elected in 1985, is running again in the provincial election. Image courtesy of Monte Kwinter.

Liberal MPP Monte Kwinter is running for an eighth term this fall.
He has represented Toronto’s North York at Queeen’s Park since 1985 and was officially nominated by the Liberals on March 1.
“My reasons for running now is the same as in 1985 – to make a difference and help people,” said Kwinter, rep for York-Centre.
Over the last 25 years, he’s held five different portfolios and is currently the parlimentary assistant to the Minister of Economic Development and Trade.
“We are a very heavily trade dependent jurisdiction. We have to export to the world,” he said. “Ninety percent of our trade is to the U.S. They are going through difficult times right now. We are looking at other areas to trade with China, India, Brazil and Russia.”
He is also quite pleased that his government is opening a new accute care centre in his riding near Keele Street and Wilson Avenue.
The hospital will serve 600,000 people in the surrounding area and is in the design stage after three years of planning. He expects to see a shovel in the ground this later year and for the hospital to take two years to build.

Kathleen Wynne seeks re-election

The Don Valley W provincial rep nominated by Liberals
Her opponents are unknown, so far
Kris Scheuer
(Written for Town Crier Feb. 17)

MPP Kathleen Wynne. Town Crier file photo.

Don Valley West MPP Kathleen Wynne is hoping for a three-peat when she runs in the provincial election this fall.
It may be early in the game, but as of mid-February, her chances looked pretty good: the Progressive Conservatives, Greens and New Democrats have not officially nominated candidates in Don Valley West.
“I don’t know who my competition will be yet,” said Wynne, who is also currently transportation minister. “I never take for granted I will be re-elected.”
Wynne is ahead of the game as the Liberals officially nominated her as their candidate in Don Valley West on Jan. 30. About 200 supporters were in attendance at her nomination party.

Victory for Liberals in St. Paul’s byelection

Eric Hoskins soundly defeats Sue-Ann Levy
Liberals hold onto riding vacated by Liberal Michael Bryant
By Brian Baker and Kris Scheuer
(Written Sept. 17 for Town Crier newspaper.)

Premier Dalton McGuinty congratulates Liberal Eric Hoskins in St. Paul's byelection victory. Photo by Francis Crescia/Town Crier.

In spite of some pundits expecting a close race in St. Paul’s, Liberal candidate Eric Hoskins cruised to an easy victory over his Progressive Conservative rival, well-known Toronto Sun columnist Sue-Ann Levy.
“I’m so humbled by the response of the residents of St. Paul’s,” Hoskins told the Town Crier while at the Sports Centre Cafe. “I’m overwhelmed, excited and it was a fantastic campaign.”
Hoskins took over 47 percent of the total vote and bested Levy by more than 4,700 votes (with 14 polls still to report).
While he was clearly enjoying his win he won’t be celebrating for too long as he says he has work to do.
“I think the next step is to open a constituency office so people know that I’m there, I’m accessible and the issues that are important to them, they know they can count on me to work with them,” he said.