2026 Scarborough Southwest provincial by-election
By-election in Canada
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A by-election will be held in the provincial riding of Scarborough Southwest in Ontario, Canada, following the resignation of incumbent NDP MPP Doly Begum on February 3, 2026.[1]
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On or before September 8, 2026
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Riding of Scarborough Southwest | |||||||||||||||||
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The writ for the by-election must be issued by August 3, 2026, with the date of the by-election being a Thursday, no later than 36 days after the writ is issued.[2]
Background
On February 2, 2026, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Bill Blair, a former cabinet minister, would resign as member of Parliament for the federal riding of Scarborough Southwest to accept an appointment as Canada’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Blair had previously served as minister of public safety and minister of national defence.[3][4]
On February 3, the Liberal Party of Canada announced Doly Begum as their candidate for the resulting by-election. Begum was serving as a member of Provincial Parliament for the provincial riding of Scarborough Southwest and the Deputy Leader of the ONDP. She resigned from her seat on the same day as well as her membership in the ONDP.[1][5]
Premier Doug Ford was not expected to announce a by-election date until after the 2026 Scarborough Southwest federal by-election was held on April 13, 2026. A provincial by-election is expected to be called for July or August.[6]
Candidates
New Democratic Party
The Scarborough Southwest NDP Electoral District Association held its nomination meeting on April 28, 2026. Fatima Shaban, the former federal NDP candidate in 2025 and 2026 in the federal Scarborough Southwest electoral district, was nominated as the party's by-election candidate.[7]
Also running for the nomination were Khalid Ahmed, former Ontario NDP candidate in Don Valley West, Don Valley East and Pickering—Uxbridge,[8] and social worker Veronica Javier.
Progressive Conservative Party
- Potential candidates
- Gary Crawford, Toronto City Councillor for Scarborough Southwest (2010-2023), Progressive Conservative candidate in the 2023 Scarborough—Guildwood provincial by-election.
- Addie Dramola, Progressive Conservative candidate in Scarborough Southwest in the 2025 Ontario general election.
- Murshed Nizam CPA, Advisor of Scarborough Business Association, Patron of Toronto Bangla School and President of Bengal Strikers Cricket Club.
- Ayesha Sardar, paralegal, sits on the Progressive Conservative Women In Politics board of directors, vice-president of the Progressive Conservative Riding Association of Pickering—Brooklin.
Liberal Party
The Scarborough Southwest Ontario Liberal Electoral District Association held its nomination meeting on May 9, 2026, using a ranked ballot.[9] With over 1,000 total votes cast, Domino's Pizza franchisee and party organizer Ahsanul Hafiz defeated Beaches—East York MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith by 19 votes for the nomination on the final ballot, with 2025 Ontario general election candidate Qadira Jackson, and immigration consultant Mahmuda Nasrin being eliminated in earlier rounds. Erskine-Smith is also a prospective candidate in the upcoming Ontario Liberal Party leadership, and was endorsed by Prime Minister Mark Carney the night before the vote.[10][11][12][13][2][14][13][9] Hafiz and Jackson had endorsed each other and encouraged their supporters to mark the other as their second choice in the ranked ballot.[15][16] Hafiz defeated Erskine-Smith with 718 votes to 699 on the third ballot.[17] Erskine-Smith alleged irregularities in the vote, telling reporters "I've spoken to a few scrutineers already who said they've never seen anything like it, and it's unreal what happened in there", and claimed individuals had been allowed to vote despite having "ID issues".[18] Earlier, Erskine-Smith questioned the party's decision to invalidate 1,800 memberships. Following the vote, Erskine-Smith said he would debrief with his team before determining his next steps.[16]
In addition to the four candidates on the nomination ballot, Sharmina Nasrin, a former constituency office worker for Whitby Progressive Conservative MPP Lorne Coe,[9] announced her candidacy in April but was not a candidate when the nomination meeting was held. Ali Demircan, President of the Federation of Canadian Turkish Associations,[19][13] and city councillor Parthi Kandavel were reported to be a potential candidate, but did not run.[14]
Previous result
| 2025 Ontario general election: Scarborough Southwest | ||||||||
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| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| New Democratic | Doly Begum | 14,557 | 42.89 | –4.79 | $120,161 | |||
| Progressive Conservative | Addie Dramola | 10,400 | 30.65 | +3.05 | $45,342 | |||
| Liberal | Qadira Jackson | 7,786 | 22.94 | +4.38 | $39,544 | |||
| Green | Mark Bekkering | 1,194 | 3.52 | –0.02 | $3,247 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 33,937 | 99.31 | ±0.00 | $131,827 | ||||
| Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots | 235 | 0.69 | ±0.00 | |||||
| Turnout | 34,172 | 41.96 | –2.38 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 81,434 | |||||||
| New Democratic hold | Swing | –3.92 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Ontario[20] | ||||||||
See also
Notes
- Seat last held by Doly Begum (New Democratic)
