Doly Begum
Canadian politician (born 1989)
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Doly Begum (Bengali: ডলি বেগম) is a Canadian politician who was the member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Scarborough Southwest from 2018 to 2026. Begum was a member of the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP), serving as deputy leader from 2022 to 2026. She resigned as MPP and deputy provincial NDP leader in 2026 to run for the federal Liberal Party in the 2026 Scarborough Southwest federal by-election.
- Peter Tabuns (interim)
- Marit Stiles
Doly Begum | |
|---|---|
Begum in 2023 | |
| Member of Provincial Parliament for Scarborough Southwest | |
| In office June 7, 2018 – February 3, 2026 | |
| Preceded by | Lorenzo Berardinetti |
| Succeeded by | TBD |
| Deputy leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party | |
| In office July 13, 2022 – February 3, 2026 | |
| Leader |
|
| Preceded by | John Vanthof and Sara Singh |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Moulvibazar District, Bangladesh |
| Party | Liberal (2026–present) |
| Other political affiliations | Ontario New Democratic (2018–2026) |
| Education | |
| Website | dolybegum |
Early life, education and career
Begum was born in the Moulvibazar District of Bangladesh.[1] She immigrated to Canada as a child with her family,[2] and was raised in Scarborough, Ontario, attending W. A. Porter Collegiate Institute in the Clairlea neighbourhood of Toronto.[3]
Thereafter, she obtained a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto in political science, and a Master of Arts in development, administration and planning from University College London. Prior to her candidacy, she was Co-Chair of the Scarborough Health Coalition, Vice-Chair of Warden Woods Community Centre, a research analyst at the Society of Energy Professionals, and was the chief coordinator of the province-wide Keep Hydro Public campaign.
Political career
Provincial politics
In the 2018 Ontario general election, Begum ran as the NDP candidate for Scarborough Southwest. The riding has a large immigrant population, constituting 45 per cent of the riding's population, with Bangladeshi Canadians accounting for 16 per cent. She won the riding with 46 per cent of the vote, defeating 15-year Liberal incumbent Lorenzo Berardinetti and became the first Bangladeshi-Canadian to be elected to a legislative body in Canada.[3] At 29, Doly Begum was the youngest member of her party's caucus[4] and is the first Bangladeshi-Canadian to be elected to a legislative body in Canada.[5]
She was named the Official Opposition critic for immigration services and for international credentials on August 11, 2024. Begum previously served as the Official Opposition critic for citizenship, foreign credentials and immigration services,[6] deputy opposition whip from August 2019 to February 2021, critic for early learning and childcare from August 2018 to February 2021 and a member of the Standing Committee on Social Policy from July 2018 to October 2019.
In 2020, Begum introduced a private member's bill that would mark June as Filipino Heritage Month.[7] The bill passed its final reading and received Royal Assent on May 20, 2021, officially proclaiming June as Filipino Heritage Month in Ontario.[8]
On July 13, 2022, Begum was named a deputy leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party, alongside Sol Mamakwa.[9]
Federal politics
On February 3, 2026, she announced her resignation from the Ontario NDP and the Ontario legislature in order to contest the 2026 Scarborough Southwest federal by-election as the Liberal Party candidate.[10]
Election results
| Canadian federal by-election, April 13, 2026: Scarborough Southwest Resignation of Bill Blair | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Doly Begum | |||||||
| Conservative | Diana Filipova | |||||||
| New Democratic | Fatima Shaban | |||||||
| Green | Pooja Malhotra | |||||||
| People's | Peter Koubakis | |||||||
| Centrist | Lyall Sanders | |||||||
| Marxist–Leninist | ||||||||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | ||||||||
| Total rejected ballots | ||||||||
| Turnout | ||||||||
| Eligible voters | ||||||||
| Source: | ||||||||
| 2025 Ontario general election: Scarborough Southwest | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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[11] | ||||||||
| 2022 Ontario general election: Scarborough Southwest | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| New Democratic | Doly Begum | 16,842 | 47.68 | +2.02 | $103,194 | |||
| Progressive Conservative | Bret Snider | 9,750 | 27.60 | −3.62 | $67,267 | |||
| Liberal | Lisa Patel | 6,556 | 18.56 | −0.38 | $65,227 | |||
| Green | Cara Brideau | 1,251 | 3.54 | +0.84 | $2,506 | |||
| New Blue | Peter Naus | 383 | 1.08 | $609 | ||||
| Ontario Party | Barbara Everatt | 320 | 0.91 | $0 | ||||
| None of the Above | James McNair | 114 | 0.32 | −0.19 | $0 | |||
| Independent | Michelle Parsons | 110 | 0.31 | $0 | ||||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 35,326 | 99.31 | +0.42 | $112,311 | ||||
| Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots | 247 | 0.69 | −0.42 | |||||
| Turnout | 35,573 | 44.34 | −8.85 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 79,624 | |||||||
| New Democratic hold | Swing | +2.82 | ||||||
Source(s)
| ||||||||
| 2018 Ontario general election: Scarborough Southwest | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| New Democratic | Doly Begum | 19,835 | 45.66 | +22.09 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Gary Ellis | 13,565 | 31.22 | +10.25 | ||||
| Liberal | Lorenzo Berardinetti | 8,228 | 18.94 | –30.99 | ||||
| Green | David Del Grande | 1,174 | 2.70 | –1.37 | ||||
| None of the Above | Allen Atkinson | 222 | 0.51 | N/A | ||||
| Libertarian | James Speirs | 195 | 0.45 | N/A | ||||
| Special Needs | Willie Little | 160 | 0.37 | N/A | ||||
| Trillium | Bobby Turley | 64 | 0.15 | N/A | ||||
| Total valid votes | 43,443 | 100.0 | ||||||
| New Democratic notional gain from Liberal | Swing | +5.92 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Ontario[12] | ||||||||