Provincial byelections underway in three Toronto and Hamilton-area ridings
· Toronto Sun
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Voting is underway in three provincial byelections that will send three new representatives to Queen’s Park.
All three of Thursday’s byelections happen to be in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area with candidates running to represent the Scarborough Southwest, York—Simcoe and Hamilton East—Stoney Creek ridings in the provincial legislature.
Polls opened at 9 a.m. and close at 9 p.m., when results are expected to start filing in.
The results of the byelections mean little in the day-to-day workings at Queen’s Park with Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives already holding a large majority of the seats (77). The New Democrats are second with 26 seats followed by the Liberals at 14 and the Green party at two.
Two Independents are also sitting in the provincial legislature.
The battle for Scarborough Southwest could be the most fascinating one of the night after the NDP’s Doly Begum bolted provincial politics for a run at representing the riding federally for the Liberals. She won the federal riding handily in an April 13 byelection, beating the Conservatives’ Diana Filipova with almost 70% of the vote.
The riding is being contested provincially by the NDP’s Fatima Shaban, the PC’s Noor Tarun, the Green’s Mark Bekkering and the Liberals’ Ahsanul Hafiz, whose candidacy was contested by former Beaches—East York MP Nathanial Erskine-Smith.
Erskine-Smith, who had been considering another run for the Ontario Liberal leadership, appealed the results of the nomination process for the riding before being denied by the party and has since decided to run as a councillor in Toronto.
The York—Simcoe race will determine who succeeds former PC cabinet minister Caroline Mulroney, who opted in the spring to step away from politics.
The main candidates fighting to replace her include the PC’s Susan Lahey, the NDP’s Bobby Nikmard, the Liberals’ Naomi Davison and the Green’s Matt Pearce.
Meanwhile in Hamilton East-Stoney Creek, the PC’s Jeff Beattie, the NDP’s Monique Taylor, the Liberals’ Henio Doessing and the Green’s Pascale Marchand after seeking a seat previously held by former CFL player Neil Lumsden, another former PC cabinet minister.