The Liberals have come out victorious, winning handily in Monday’s federal byelection in east Toronto’s Beaches-East York riding.
Tanveer Shahnawaz, the long-standing constituency office manager for departing Liberal MP and former cabinet minister Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, took a strong early lead.
With 191 (95.5 per cent) of 200 polls reporting, he earned 14,837 votes or just under 55 per cent of the vote.
Similarly, NDP Shannon Devine, a union and labour advocate, came in second place with 25.9 per cent of the vote or 7,004 votes, while local coffee shop owner Jim Syrbos, of the Conservative Party, placed third with 16.3 per cent of the vote or 4,414 votes.
Green Bruce Livesey, a former TTC driver, came in fourth with 1.7 per cent of the vote, with 191 polls reporting.
Michel Lachance, of the People’s Party, along with Canadian Future Party candidate Cameron Thomas were also vying to be Beaches-East York’s next MP, coming in fifth and sixth place respectively.
‘Honour of a lifetime’: Shahnawaz
Speaking to his supporters from his victory party at The Stone Lion pub, Shahnawaz said it will be the “honour of a lifetime to represent the only home I’ve ever known as your next Member of Parliament for Beaches-East York.”
He then thanked the hundreds of volunteers as well as fellow caucus members for standing beside him, as well as Prime Minister Mark Carney who visited the riding a few weeks ago.
“I’m going to be so looking forward to learning and working alongside such wonderful colleagues… I think it’s a great time to be a Liberal in Canada and in Beaches-East York,” said Shahnawaz, who was born at the former East General Hospital to parents who immigrated from Bangladesh.
“I’ve never left this riding and it is going to be an honour of a lifetime, with community experience, hard work, and representation, that we continue building Canada strong, that we continue building Beaches-East York short stronger. Let’s get to work.”
The MP-elect later told CTV National that it was a dream come true to win the Liberal nomination for the riding followed now by the byelection victory.
“This is what Canadian dreams are made of,” Shahnawaz said, adding he’s “ready to hit the ground running” and eager to leverage the many contacts he’s made after working for Erskine-Smith for more than a decade.
Shahnawaz said he understands that Canada is facing some significant challenges with U.S. tariffs, saying that his community building efforts are also nation building ones.
“And if it means continuing to knock on doors, the advocacy never stops. Hearing what my neighbours and my constituents want me to advocate for will always be the job,” he vowed.
Riding a long-standing Liberal stronghold
Largely considered a Liberal stronghold, Beaches-East York has been red for nine of the riding’s 10 elections since it was formed 1997. It was held by the NDP for a four-year period from 2011–2015.
Outgoing Liberal MP Erskine-Smith represented the riding from 2015 until his resignation early last month following a failed run for the Ontario Liberal leadership. He won last year’s general election with 67.7 per cent of the vote, easily beating the Conservatives, who earned 23.5 per and the NDP, which got 6.9 per cent.
With files from CTV News
