Leslie Church

Canadian politician From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Leslie Church MP is a Canadian politician and lawyer who has served as the Member of Parliament for Toronto–St. Paul's since the 2025 Canadian federal election. She is known for her extensive career in the public and private sectors, having held senior roles in federal government, public affairs and communications.[1]

MinisterPatty Hajdu
Preceded byDon Stewart
PartyLiberal
Websitelesliechurch.liberal.ca
Quick facts MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Jobs and Families ...
Leslie Church
MP
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Jobs and Families
Incumbent
Assumed office
June 5, 2025
Serving with Annie Koutrakis
MinisterPatty Hajdu
Parliamentary Secretary to the Secretaries of State for Labour, Seniors, and Children and Youth
Incumbent
Assumed office
June 5, 2025
Member of Parliament
for Toronto—St. Paul's
Incumbent
Assumed office
April 28, 2025
Preceded byDon Stewart
Personal details
PartyLiberal
Websitelesliechurch.liberal.ca
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Early life and education

Church grew up in Edmonton, Alberta.[1] She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Political Science & International Relations from the University of Alberta where she served on the Board of Governors and as President of the Student's Union.[1] She later earned a Master of Science in Politics of the World Economy from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She received her Juris Doctor from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and was a Junior Fellow at Massey College.[1]

While serving as the Executive Director of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance, Church was a member of the advisory panel for the 2004 Rae Report, alongside former premiers Bob Rae and Bill Davis, as well as economist Don Drummond.[2]

Career

Church is a lawyer and a former senior advisor to four Canadian Cabinet Ministers.[3] She previously served as Chief of Staff to Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland, where she played a lead role in the creation of three federal budgets.[4][5]

Church ran in the 2024 Toronto—St. Paul's federal by-election, and lost to Conservative candidate Don Stewart.[6] She ran again in the 2025 Canadian federal election, and defeated Stewart, winning with 61.88% of the vote.[7] Following her victory, Church made comparisons between her two campaigns as "night and day," after the resignation of Justin Trudeau.[8]

On June 5, 2025, she was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Secretaries of State for Labour, for Seniors, and for Children and Youth, and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Jobs and Families (Persons with Disabilities) by Prime Minister Mark Carney.[9]

Electoral record

More information Party, Candidate ...
2025 Canadian federal election: Toronto—St. Paul's
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
LiberalLeslie Church44,31361.88+12.37
ConservativeDon Stewart23,70833.11+6.60
New DemocraticBruce Levy2,5063.50−12.39
GreenShane Philips5520.77−4.79
People'sJoseph Frasca3290.46−2.04
Marxist–LeninistDavid Gershuny1470.21N/A
Canadian FutureCynthia Valdron580.08N/A
Total valid votes/expense limit
Total rejected ballots
Turnout 71,61374.05
Eligible voters 96,713
Liberal notional hold Swing +2.89
Note: The changes in percentage value and swing were calculated using the redistributed results of the 2021 general election, not the 2024 by-election. The seat of Toronto—St. Paul's was won by the Liberals in 2021, but the seat was held by the Conservatives since 2024 following the by-election.
Source: Elections Canada[10][11]
Close
More information Party, Candidate ...
Canadian federal by-election, June 24, 2024: Toronto—St. Paul's
Resignation of Carolyn Bennett
Party Candidate Votes%±%
ConservativeDon Stewart15,56542.11+16.81
LiberalLeslie Church14,93240.40-8.82
New DemocraticAmrit Parhar4,07311.02-5.81
GreenChristian Cullis1,0572.86-3.13
People'sDennis Wilson2380.64-2.02
IndependentJonathan Schachter970.26
IndependentMário Stocco820.22
Marxist–LeninistMeñico Turcotte590.16
RhinocerosSean Carson510.14
IndependentThibaud Mony510.14
IndependentGlen MacDonald420.11
IndependentMélodie Anderson390.11
IndependentDemetrios Karavas370.10
No AffiliationStephen Davis360.10
IndependentJordan Wong310.08
MarijuanaDanny Légaré300.08
IndependentAlex Banks270.07
CentristAli Mohiuddin260.07
IndependentJaël Champagne Gareau230.06
IndependentMichael Bednarski180.05
IndependentJohn Dale180.05
IndependentPierre Larochelle170.05
IndependentJoshua Bram Hieu Pham170.05
IndependentMarie-Hélène LeBel160.04
IndependentGuillaume Paradis160.04
IndependentDaniel Andrew Graham130.04
IndependentPierre Granger130.04
IndependentJulie St-Amand130.04
IndependentLoren Hicks120.03
IndependentMatéo Martin120.03
IndependentBlake Hamilton110.03
IndependentLine Bélanger100.02
IndependentCharles Currie100.03
IndependentCory Deville100.03
IndependentAlexandra Engering100.03
IndependentDaniel Stuckless100.03
IndependentErle Stanley Bowman90.02
IndependentAnthony Hamel90.02
IndependentPascal St-Amand90.02
IndependentSébastien CoRhino80.02
IndependentMark Dejewski80.02
IndependentDaniel Gagnon80.02
IndependentAgnieszka Marszalek80.02
IndependentOlivier Renaud80.02
IndependentPatrick Strzalkowski80.02
IndependentDonald Gagnon70.02
IndependentBenjamin Teichman70.02
IndependentMarthaLee Aykroyd60.02
IndependentMyriam Beaulieu60.02
IndependentKubera Desai60.02
IndependentDonovan Eckstrom60.02
IndependentKevin Krisa60.02
IndependentLorant Polya60.02
IndependentRoger Sherwood60.02
IndependentElliot Wand60.02
IndependentMichal Wieczorek60.02
IndependentMaxime Boivin50.01
IndependentMartin Acetaria Caesar Jubinville50.01
IndependentJean-Denis Parent Boudreault40.01
IndependentLéthycia-Félix Corriveau40.01
IndependentYsack Dupont40.01
IndependentDji-Pé Frazer40.01
IndependentZornitsa Halacheva40.01
IndependentAlain Lamontagne40.01
IndependentRenée Lemieux40.01
IndependentDanimal Preston40.01
IndependentSpencer Rocchi40.01
IndependentYogo Shimada40.01
IndependentDarcy Vanderwater40.01
IndependentMylène Bonneau30.01
IndependentGuillaume Gagnier-Michel30.01
IndependentKerri Hildebrandt30.01
IndependentKrzysztof Krzywinski30.01
IndependentConnie Lukawski30.01
IndependentWallace Richard Rowat30.01
IndependentGavin Vanderwater30.01
IndependentAlain Bourgault20.01
No AffiliationManon Marie Lili Desbiens20.01
IndependentGerrit Dogger20.01
IndependentSamuel Ducharme20.01
IndependentYusuf Kadir Nasihi20.01
IndependentWinston Neutel20.01
IndependentJacques Saintonge20.01
IndependentFelix-Antoine Hamel00.00
Total valid votes 36,962
Total rejected ballots
Turnout 43.52-21.96
Eligible voters 84,934
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +12.76
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References

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