Politics of Toronto
The politics of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada involve the election of representatives to the federal, provincial, and municipal levels of government. A total of 25 Members of Parliament representing Toronto sit in the House of Commons of Canada in Ottawa, and another 25 Members of Ontario's Provincial Parliament sit in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario 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. 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 until 2004 - whereupon 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. 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. 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 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. That mayoral election was won by John Tory, a lawyer, and formerly, a 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.
The Stronger City of Toronto for a Stronger Ontario Act, 2006 was enacted by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario on June 12, 2006. It modified the legal powers and responsibilities available to the city under provincial law.
Members of Parliament
Members by riding
| Riding | Pic | Name | Party | Prior Experience | Education | Assumed Office | Born In | |
| Beaches—East York | Nathaniel Erskine-Smith | Liberal | Lawyer | Queen's University University of Oxford | 2015 | 1984 | ||
| Davenport | Julie Dzerowicz | Liberal | Director of Strategic Planning and Communications at the Bank of Montreal | McGill University University of British Columbia London Business School | 2015 | |||
| Don Valley East | Yasmin Ratansi | Liberal | Accountant Management Consultant | 2015 | 1951 | |||
| Don Valley West | Rob Oliphant | Liberal | United Church minister CEO of the Asthma Society of Canada | University of Toronto Vancouver School of Theology Chicago Theological Seminary | 2015 | 1956 | ||
| Don Valley North | Geng Tan | Liberal | 2015 | 1963 | ||||
| Eglinton—Lawrence | Marco Mendicino | Liberal | Lawyer Adjunct Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School | Carleton University University of Windsor | 2015 | 1973 | ||
| Etobicoke Centre | Liberal | University of Toronto | 2015 | 1960 | ||||
| Etobicoke—Lakeshore | Liberal | Lawyer | Bishop's University University of Windsor University of Wales | 2015 | ||||
| Etobicoke North | Liberal | Ontario Medical Association | University of Edinburgh | 2008 | 1966 | |||
| Humber River—Black Creek | Liberal | North York City Council Toronto City Council Toronto Police Services Board | University of Toronto | 1999 | 1944 | |||
| Parkdale—High Park | Liberal | Lawyer | McGill University | 2015 | 1971 | |||
| Scarborough—Agincourt | Liberal | 2017 | ||||||
| Scarborough Centre | Liberal | University of London Quaid-i-Azam University | 2011 | 1966 | ||||
| Scarborough—Guildwood | Liberal | Canadian Bar Association | University of Toronto | 1997 | 1948 | |||
| Scarborough North | Liberal | 2015 | 1980 | |||||
| Scarborough—Rouge Park | Liberal | Real Estate Broker Lawyer | Carleton University Osgoode Hall Law School | 2015 | ||||
| Scarborough Southwest | Liberal | Toronto Police Chief | University of Toronto | 2015 | 1954 | |||
| Spadina—Fort York | Liberal | Radio and TV journalist Represented Ward 20 Trinity—Spadina on Toronto City Council | 2014 | 1961 | ||||
| Toronto Centre | Liberal | CEO of Reuters Editor of Financial Times | Harvard University University of Oxford | 2013 | 1968 | |||
| Toronto—Danforth | Liberal | Lawyer | 2015 | 1971 | ||||
| Toronto—St. Paul's | Liberal | Ontario Medical Association | University of Toronto | 1997 | 1950 | |||
| University—Rosedale | Liberal | Ontario Medical Association | Harvard University | 2015 | 1968 | |||
| Willowdale | Liberal | Lawyer, International Law Executive of the Ontario Bar Association | University of Toronto London School of Economics Osgoode Hall Law School Georgetown University | 2015 | 1970 | |||
| York Centre | Liberal | York University University of Ottawa | 2011 | 1963 | ||||
| York South—Weston | Liberal | National President of the Canadian Somali Congress | York University University of Ottawa | 2015 | 1976 |
Members of Provincial Parliament
Members by riding
| Riding | Name | Party | Prior Experience | Education | Assumed Office | Born In | ||
| Beaches—East York | NDP | Author Researcher Professor at University of Toronto | Johns Hopkins University Aberystwyth University | 2018 | ||||
| Davenport | NDP | Non-profit director Trustee for the Toronto District School Board President of the federal New Democratic Party | 2018 | 1969 | ||||
| Don Valley East | Liberal | Toronto Board of Education | Carleton University | 2014 | 1965 | |||
| Don Valley West | Liberal | Toronto Board of Education | Queen's University University of Toronto Ontario Institute for Studies in Education | 2003 | 1953 | |||
| Don Valley North | Progressive Conservative | Electrical Engineer | 2018 | |||||
| Eglinton—Lawrence | Progressive Conservative | Lawyer | University of Guelph | 2018 | ||||
| Etobicoke Centre | Progressive Conservative | Toronto City Council | 2018 | |||||
| Etobicoke—Lakeshore | Progressive Conservative | Chief of Staff to John Tory Director of Events for the Toronto Board of Trade Government Relations Manager for the Canadian Automobile Association | Lake Superior State University | 2018 | ||||
| Etobicoke North | Progressive Conservative | Toronto City Council | 2018 | 1964 | ||||
| Humber River—Black Creek | NDP | Executive Assistant to Anthony Perruzza | 2018 | |||||
| Parkdale—High Park | NDP | Epidemiologist Public Health Researcher Executive Assistant to Cheri DiNovo | University of British Columbia University of Toronto Ryerson University | 2018 | ||||
| Scarborough—Agincourt | Progressive Conservative | Citizenship Judge | 2018 | |||||
| Scarborough Centre | Progressive Conservative | 2018 | ||||||
| Scarborough—Guildwood | Mitzie Hunter | Liberal | CEO of Greater Toronto CivicAction Alliance CAO of Toronto Community Housing Vice-President of Goodwill Industries | University of Toronto Rotman School of Management | 2013 | 1968 | ||
| Scarborough North | Progressive Conservative | Social Worker Toronto City Council Chairman of the Toronto Zoo | University of Toronto | 2016 | 1936 | |||
| Scarborough—Rouge Park | Progressive Conservative | Financial Advisor | 2018 | 1989 | ||||
| Scarborough Southwest | NDP | Co-Chair of the Scarborough Health Coalition Vice-Chair of Warden Woods Community Centre Research Analyst | University of Toronto University College London | 2018 | 1989 | |||
| Spadina—Fort York | NDP | Adjunct Professor at York University | 2018 | 1961 | ||||
| Toronto Centre | NDP | Communications Consultant Public Relations | University of Guelph | 2018 | ||||
| Toronto—Danforth | NDP | Toronto City Council | York University | 2006 | 1951 | |||
| Toronto—St. Paul's | NDP | Public Speaker Activist Owner of Glad Day Bookshop | 2018 | |||||
| University—Rosedale | Jessica Bell | NDP | Community Organizer Lecturer at Ryerson University Director of the California Food & Justice Coalition Activist Executive Director of TTCriders | 2018 | ||||
| Willowdale | Progressive Conservative | Real Estate broker Auditor | 2018 | |||||
| York Centre | Progressive Conservative | Civil and commercial litigation lawyer | York University University of Western Ontario | 2018 | ||||
| York South—Weston | NDP | Broadcaster Author | 2018 |