Politics of Toronto

The politics of Toronto, Ontario, Canada involve the election of representatives to the federal, provincial, and municipal levels of government. A total of 23 Members of Parliament (MPs) representing Toronto sit in the House of Commons in Ottawa (the federal capital), and another 22 Members of Ontario's Provincial Parliament (MPPs) sit in the Legislative Assembly at Queen's Park, in Toronto. Being Ontario's capital, many provincial offices are located in the city.

Overview

In terms of electoral politics, Toronto had been an important source of support for the Liberal Party both federally and provincially, though the downtown area tends to support the New Democratic Party (NDP). The federal Conservative Party and the provincial Progressive Conservative Party have historically been weaker in the city, although a number of right-leaning Liberals come from Toronto ridings.

In the past, the Liberals usually dominated the inner portions of the city federally, while the outer portions were split between the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives. However, the Liberals swept every seat in Toronto from 1993 to 2004, when former city councillor and NDP leader Jack Layton won a downtown riding. The NDP would add two more seats in 2006, but lost one in 2008. In the 2011 federal election, Torontonians sent nine Conservative MPs to Ottawa, eight NDP MPs and six Liberal MPs. It was the first time that a centre-right party had won seats in Toronto since 1988. However, in 2015, the Liberals swept every seat in Toronto.

Large parts of Toronto--mainly the outer portions--supported the right-wing government of Mike Harris during the 1995 and 1999 Ontario elections. But largely as a result of amalgamating Metro Toronto municipalities -- against the wishes of three-quarters of voters in a municipal plebiscite -- and downloading responsibility for costly services onto the city, the Conservatives were shut of Toronto in provincial elections from 2003 until they won a byelection in 2013.

Businessman and politician Mel Lastman was the first Mayor of the newly amalgamated City of Toronto, and 62nd Mayor of Toronto, winning the city's mayoralty in the 1997 and achieving re-election in the 2000 Toronto elections.^[1] Centre-leftist David Miller was elected Toronto's 63rd mayor in December 2003 and was re-elected in November 2006 with nearly 60 per cent of the popular vote and a mandate to make Toronto a city of prosperity, livability and opportunity for all.^[2] Miller declined to run in the following election and conservative ally Rob Ford won the 2010 election handily. Three years later, however, Ford's tumultuous reign and admission to smoking crack (and other indiscretions that attracted international media attention) led City Council to remove many of his powers and much of his office's budget. In the following mayoral election he was forced to drop out due to treatment for pleomorphic liposarcoma, a rare form of cancer.^[3] John Tory is the current, and 65th, Mayor of Toronto, a lawyer, talk show host, businessman, Member of Provincial Parliament and Leader of the Official Opposition at Queen’s Park. Among Mayor Tory’s top priorities are tackling transit and traffic congestion.^[4]

The Stronger City of Toronto for a Stronger Ontario Act, 2006 (Bill 53) was enacted by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario on June 12, 2006.^[5] It modified the legal powers and responsibilities available to the city under provincial law.^[6]

Members of Parliament

Members by riding

	Riding		Name	Party	Prior Experience	Education	Assumed Office	Born In
	Beaches—East York		Kellway, MatthewMatthew Kellway	NDP	Toronto Energy Coalition Toronto Board of Catholic Education	University of Toronto (MA)	2011	1964
	Davenport		Cash, AndrewAndrew Cash	NDP			2011	1962
	Don Valley East		Daniel, JoeJoe Daniel	Conservative		London School of Economics (BA)	2011	1954
	Don Valley West		Carmichael, JohnJohn Carmichael	Conservative	North York General Hospital Board Canadian Automobile Association Chairman		2011	1952
	Eglinton—Lawrence		Oliver, JoeJoe Oliver	Conservative	Ontario Securities Commission	Mcgill University (BA)	2011	1940
	Etobicoke Centre		Opitz, TedTed Opitz	Conservative	CPC Political Advisor	York University (BA)	2011	1961
	Etobicoke—Lakeshore		Trottier, BernardBernard Trottier	Conservative	Etobicoke-Lakeshore CPC Riding President	University of Alberta (BSc) University of Western Ontario (MBA)	2011	1965
	Etobicoke North		Duncan, KirstyKirsty Duncan	Liberal	Ontario Medical Association	University of Edinburgh (PhD)	2008	1966
	Parkdale—High Park		Nash, PeggyPeggy Nash	NDP	Canadian Auto Workers Negotiator President of the NDP	University of Toronto (BA)	2006	1951
	Scarborough—Agincourt		Chan, ArnoldArnold Chan	Liberal			2014
	Scarborough Centre		James, RoxanneRoxanne James	Conservative	Defend Marriage Campaign		2011	1966
	Scarborough East		Chisu, CorneliuCorneliu Chisu	Conservative	Consul to Moldova Canadian Forces Major	University of Bucharest (phD)	2011	1949
	Scarborough—Guildwood		McKay, JohnJohn McKay	Liberal	Canadian Bar Association	University of Toronto (BA)	1997	1948
	Scarborough—Rouge River		Sitsabaiesan, RathikaRathika Sitsabaiesan	NDP	Carleton University Students' Association	Carleton University (BCom.) Queen's University (MA)	2011	1981
	Scarborough Southwest		Harris, DanDan Harris	NDP	University of Toronto Students' Union	Seneca College	2011	1979
	St. Paul's		Bennett, CarolynCarolyn Bennett	Liberal	Ontario Medical Association	University of Toronto (MD)	1997	1950
	Toronto Centre		Freeland, ChrystiaChrystia Freeland	Liberal	CEO of Reuters Editor of Financial Times	Harvard University (BA, MA) University of Oxford (MA)	2013	1968
	Toronto—Danforth		Scott, CraigCraig Scott	NDP		University of Oxford (BA) London School of Economics (MA)	2011	1950
	Trinity—Spadina		Vaughan, AdamAdam Vaughan	Liberal	Represented Ward 20 Trinity—Spadina on Toronto City Council		2014	1961
	Willowdale		Leung, ChungsenChungsen Leung	Conservative	Markham Chinese Business Association Richmond Hill Chamber of Commerce	Carleton University (BA)	2011	1950
	York Centre		Adler, MarkMark Adler	Conservative	Economic Club of Canada Canadian Institute of International Affairs	University of Toronto (BA)	2011	1963
	York South—Weston		Sullivan, MikeMike Sullivan	NDP		University of Toronto (BA)	2011	1952
	York West		Sgro, JudyJudy Sgro	Liberal	North York City Council Toronto City Council Toronto Police Services Board	University of Toronto (BA, JD)	1999	1944

Members of Provincial Parliament

Members by riding

	Riding		Name	Party	Prior Experience	Education	Assumed Office	Born In
	Beaches—East York		Potts, ArthurArthur Potts	Liberal			2014
	Davenport		Martins, CristinaCristina Martins	Liberal			2014
	Don Valley East		Coteau, MichaelMichael Coteau	Liberal	Toronto Board of Education	Carleton University (BA)	2014	1965
	Don Valley West		Wynne, KathleenKathleen Wynne	Liberal	Toronto Board of Education	University of Toronto (M.ed)	2003	1953
	Eglinton—Lawrence		Colle, MikeMike Colle	Liberal	Toronto City Council Toronto Transit Commission	St. Michael's College School (BA)	1995	1945
	Etobicoke Centre		Baker, YvanYvan Baker	Liberal			2014
	Etobicoke—Lakeshore		Peter Milczyn	Liberal	Toronto City Council		2014
	Etobicoke North		Qaadri, ShafiqShafiq Qaadri	Liberal	Ontario Medical Association	University of Toronto (MD)	2003	1951
	Parkdale—High Park		DiNovo, CheriCheri DiNovo	NDP	Political Radio Host		2006	1950
	Scarborough—Agincourt		Wong, SooSoo Wong	Liberal	Toronto Board of Education	Humber College (BSc)	2011	1961
	Scarborough Centre		Duguid, BradBrad Duguid	Liberal	Liberal Executive Assistant		2003	1962
	Scarborough—Guildwood		Mitzie Hunter	Liberal	CEO of CivicAction Toronto City Council	University of Toronto (BA)	2013	1968
	Scarborough—Rouge River		Balkissoon, BasBas Balkissoon	Liberal	Toronto City Council		2005	1952
	Scarborough Southwest		Berardinetti, LorenzoLorenzo Berardinetti	Liberal	Toronto City Council	University of Windsor (BA, LL.B)	2003	1961
	St. Paul's		Hoskins, EricEric Hoskins	Liberal	Founder of War Child Canada	McMaster University (BSc,MD) University of Oxford (PhD)	2009	1960
	Toronto Centre		Murray, GlenGlen Murray	Liberal	Winnipeg City Council Mayor of Winnipeg	Concordia University (BA)	2010	1957
	Toronto—Danforth		Tabuns, PeterPeter Tabuns	NDP	Toronto City Council	York University (BA)	2006	1951
	Trinity—Spadina		Dong, HanHan Dong	Liberal			2014
	Willowdale		Zimmer, DavidDavid Zimmer	Liberal	Toronto Community Housing Corporation Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada Director of Humane Society		2003	1944
	York Centre		Kwinter, MonteMonte Kwinter	Liberal	Toronto Harbour Commission	Ontario College of Art Syracuse University (BA) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (BSc)	1985	1931
	York South—Weston		Albanese, LauraLaura Albanese	Liberal			2007	1957
	York West		Sergio, MarioMario Sergio	Liberal	North York City Council Toronto City Council		1995	1940

See also

• Bill 103
• Metro Toronto

References

1. Biography - Mel Lastman http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=3f274df130113410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD&vgnextchannel=2ad8dddc97703410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD
2. Biography - David Miller http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=1a764df130113410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD&vgnextfmt=default&vgnextchannel=2ad8dddc97703410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD
3. Pelley, Lauren (September 17, 2014). "Rob Ford's diagnosis: What is a pleomorphic liposarcoma?". Toronto Star (thestar.com). Retrieved March 18, 2016.
4. Mayor's biography http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=947332d0b6d1e310VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD
5. Text of the act
6. Background on the City of Toronto Act