Davenport
Has there been a more active MP for any federal party in Toronto than the NDP’s Andrew Cash? He’s been the biggest booster in the House of the city’s arts and culture ever since assuming his seat in 2011, not to mention an effective advocate for the working poor. As a rookie MP, Cash introduced the Urban Worker Strategy targeting unpaid internships and precarious employment. Besides being a great guy – and former NOW Magazine contributor – he’s a dead ringer for Tommy Douglas.
Toronto-Danforth
When the NDP needed to win big on former leader Jack Layton’s home turf in the dark days after his death, Craig Scott came through, garnering 59 per cent of the vote in a 2012 by-election. He hasn’t looked back. It should hardly have been a surprise. Scott boasts huge cred on environmental, social justice and LGBTQ issues, not to mention an impressive resumé that includes the London School of Economics, Oxford University and stints as an adviser to the African National Congress on South Africa’s first post-apartheid constitution and as a commissioner on the Honduras Truth Commission.
Parkdale-High Park
In a riding that seesaws between Liberal and NDP, Peggy Nash has been a solid and hardworking MP. She lost here in 2004 before winning in 2006 and then losing again in 2008 in a close race against Gerard Kennedy. She won in 2011 and went on to serve as the party’s industry and finance critic under Tom Mulcair after a failed bid for the party leadership. Nash’s work crosses party lines. She’s a founder of Equal Voice, the all-party group dedicated to bringing more women into politics.
Scarborough Southwest
Such is Liberal candidate and former Toronto police chief Bill Blair’s shadow that you might think he’s the incumbent running for re-election here. He’s not the NDP’s Dan Harris is. Both have deep roots in the community. Harris’s family, Second World War vets among them, has lived in the area since the 1920s. But it’s Blair’s record as chief, particularly on the policing of racialized communities, that gives us pause. Then there’s the G20 disaster, which, it has been argued, was not entirely of his making. Regardless, his obfuscation on the police practice of carding is inexcusable.
Toronto Centre
NDP star candidate Linda McQuaig rattled political observers right out of the gate when she suggested tar sands oil might have to stay in the ground if Canada is to meet its greenhouse emission targets. Her chief rival, Liberal Bill Morneau, is being touted as Trudeau’s pick for finance minister should the Libs win. Question is, do we need another supply-side economist in the House? (Morneau is a former chair of the C.D. Howe Institute.) Nah.
University-Rosedale
Harvard-educated former Thomson Reuters managing editor Chrystia Freeland won the seat vacated by Bob Rae in a 2013 by-election. She fits the prototype for candidates preferred by the Liberal party establishment, which made her crashing of a scheduled Joe Oliver speech at an exclusive men’s club seem somewhat odd. The NDP’s Jennifer Hollett has something a little different to offer: a ground-up approach to politics – not to mention youthful enthusiasm. Hard not to get behind that. Voters seem also to be noticing, judging by her sign presence in the riding.
York South-Weston
Mike Sullivan who? The NDP incumbent has been quietly and effectively going about his business in this hardscrabble working-class riding in the former city of York, even before he caught the eye of party higher-ups for his work on housing and disability issues, not to mention his fight to kill the privately run rail link from Union Station to Pearson and to include a stop at Weston along the route. His efforts on the latter won him the position of chair of the NDP’s rail caucus. He also serves as the party’s deputy critic for housing and disability issues.
Scarborough North
Rathika Sitsabaiesan surprised everyone (except maybe herself) when she took the riding then known as Scarborough Rouge River in 2011, garnering more than 40 per cent of the vote. But she didn’t exactly come out of nowhere. The former activist is known for her work on poverty issues as a volunteer in former NDP leader Ed Broadbent’s 2004 campaign and after that as an adviser to Jack Layton on Tamil issues. She’s in a tight race with Liberal Shaun Chen in this rejigged riding.
Beaches-East York
Ever since Michael Prue lost this seat provincially after criticizing Andrea Horwath’s populist shape-shift, the NDP base has been restless. As a result, it’s one of the ridings targeted by the Libs, who are running Nathaniel Erskine-Smith. Kathleen Wynne has been in the riding for two photo opportunities in recent weeks. The NDP’s Matthew Kellway took it from long-time incumbent Maria Minna in 2011 with more than 40 per cent of the vote. The NDP critic for urban affairs and infrastructure, Kellway perhaps hasn’t impressed as much as his other Toronto colleagues, but Erskine-Smith’s nomination for the Libs remains under a cloud following a robocall controversy during the Liberal nomination.
Compiled by Enzo DiMatteo with files from Jonathan Goldsbie.