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Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives held onto the ridings of York-Simcoe and Hamilton East-Stoney Creek, while the NDP maintained its grip on Scarborough Southwest in three provincial byelections held Thursday.
According to Elections Ontario’s unofficial results page, NDP’s Fatima Shaban won by a 2,240-vote margin, securing 40.47 per cent of the vote share, with 57 out of 57 polls reporting. Voter turnout was 26.5 per cent.
PC candidate Susan Lahey won in York—Simcoe, with a 2,549-vote margin, securing 49.81 per cent of the vote share. Voter turnout was 21 per cent.
PC’s Jeff Beattie, meanwhile, won by a 1,614-vote margin, securing 38.87 per cent of the vote share, with 44 out of 44 polls reporting. Voter turnout was 29.25 per cent.
The Liberals came up empty in the provincial contests.
NDP candidate, premier react to wins
Shaban thanked her team of volunteers for their work, along with her husband, children and various community leaders for their support.
“We did it!” Shaban said at the Kingston Road branch of the Royal Canadian Legion, where the celebration was held.
“I often say I can’t imagine living anywhere else other than right here in Scarborough Southwest because you guys are my family. This is a community that is helping me to raise my kids, where I grew up and I am going to fight like hell to make sure that we get our fair share.”
Shaban said her team knocked on thousands of doors and the campaign was run on “absolute positivity.”
“What happens here is going to have lasting effects,” she said.
In a post on social media platform X, the Ontario NDP said Shaban is “a voice from this community, for this community, joining Marit Stiles and the Ontario NDP to make life more affordable and get Scarborough its fair share. Congratulations, Fatima. Let’s go get it.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford joined Beattie at Clifford Brewing Company, a craft brewery in Hamilton, for the PCs’ campaign celebration Thursday night.
“Tonight, Ontario voters in York-Simcoe and Hamilton East-Stoney Creek elected two strong local representatives who will protect Ontario, stand up for workers and families and keep our province moving forward,” Ford said in a news release.
Byelections called after MPPs stepped down
Ford called the three byelections in early August after three MPPs stepped down.
Scarborough Southwest became vacant after Doly Begum, an NDP MPP, resigned to run for the federal Liberals in the same riding. She won the seat in a federal byelection in April.
Shaban, a community advocate, faced off in the riding against Liberal candidate Ahsanul Hafiz, a businessman who owns 30 Dominos pizza restaurants, and PC candidate Noor Tarun.
Hafiz won the nomination race, beating former MP Nate Erskine-Smith, who intended to run for the party’s leadership.
York—Simcoe was up for grabs after Caroline Mulroney, a Progressive Conservative MPP and former Treasury Board president, stepped down from politics in June, saying she wanted to begin a new chapter of her life.
Lahey, an East Gwillimbury town councillor, faced off in the riding against Liberal Naomi Davison and NDP’s Bobby Nikmard.
Hamilton East-Stoney Creek became vacant after Neil Lumsden, a Progressive Conservative MPP and Ontario’s former minister of sport, retired in early August.
Beattie, a longtime city councillor, ran for the seat in that riding, beating the NDP’s Monique Taylor and Liberal Heino Doessing.
