Downsview (electoral district)

Downsview
Ontario electoral district
Defunct provincial electoral district
LegislatureLegislative Assembly of Ontario
District created1963
District abolished1996
First contested1963
Last contested1995
Demographics
Census division(s)Toronto
Census subdivision(s)Toronto

Downsview was a provincial riding in Ontario, Canada. It was created for the 1963 provincial election, and was retained until redistribution in 1999. Downsview was located in North York, which was previously part of Metropolitan Toronto and is now part of the City of Toronto. It was formed from part of the original riding of York Centre. In 1996 it was merged into a newly reconstituted riding of the same name.

For most of its history, Downsview was a hotly contested marginal seat between the Liberals and the New Democratic Party. Its final representative, however, was a Progressive Conservative: Annamarie Castrilli was elected as a Liberal in 1995, but crossed parties on the last sitting day of the legislature before the 1999 election.

The riding's demographics and boundaries shifted throughout its existence. In the 1960s, it consisted of the area of the borough of North York between Bathurst Street and Keele Street. During this period, the riding had a large Jewish community, representing about 40% of the population.[1] In the 1975 election, the eastern, predominantly Jewish section of the riding was redistributed to the riding of Wilson Heights and the riding became predominantly Italian. Odoardo Di Santo, elected as a New Democrat in 1975, was one of the first three Italian-Canadians to serve in the Ontario legislature.

Members of Provincial Parliament

Downsview
Assembly Years Member Party
Created from part of York Centre riding in 1963
27th  1963–1967     Vern Singer Liberal
28th  1967–1971
29th  1971–1975
30th  1975–1977     Odoardo Di Santo New Democratic
31st  1977–1981
32nd  1981–1985
33rd  1985–1987     Joseph Cordiano Liberal
34th  1987–1990     Laureano Leone Liberal
35th  1990–1995     Anthony Perruzza New Democratic
36th  1995–1999     Annamarie Castrilli Liberal
 1999–1999     Progressive Conservative
Sourced from the Ontario Legislative Assembly[2]
Merged into York Centre riding after 1999

Electoral results

1963 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes[3] Vote %
    Liberal Vern Singer 7,328 38.0
    New Democrat Alan Borovoy 6,806 35.3
    Progressive Conservative David Vanek 5,168 26.8
Total 19,302
1967 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes[4] Vote %
    Liberal Vern Singer 8,875 36.6
    New Democrat Murray Chusid 8,848 36.4
    Progressive Conservative Max Shecter 6,293 25.9
    Independent Sonee Cohen 261 1.1
Total 24,277
1971 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes[5] Vote %
    Liberal Vern Singer 16,933 52.2
    New Democrat Murray Chusid 10,803 33.3
    Progressive Conservative Lorraine Deane 4,673 14.4
Total 32,409
1975 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes[6] Vote %
    New Democrat Odoardo Di Santo 8,090 37.0
    Liberal Michael Spensieri 7,962 36.4
    Progressive Conservative Barbara Greene 5,832 26.6
Total 21,884
1977 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes[7] Vote %
    New Democrat Odoardo Di Santo 10,238 45.3
    Progressive Conservative Sam Stabile 6,109 27.0
    Liberal Joseph De Angelis 5,818 25.7
    Independent Doreen Leitch 252 1.1
Libertarian Michael Little 187 0.8
Total 22,604
1981 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes[8] Vote %
    New Democrat Odoardo Di Santo 8,718 39.4
    Liberal Joe Volpe 8,039 36.3
    Progressive Conservative Ross Charles 5,368 24.3
Total 22,125
1985 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes[9] Vote %
    Liberal Joseph Cordiano 11,250 43.9
    New Democrat Odoardo Di Santo 11,119 43.7
    Progressive Conservative Vincent Stabile 3,250 12.7
Total 28,559
1987 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes[10] Vote %
    Liberal Laureano Leone 11,921 46.7
    New Democrat Maria Augimeri 11,778 46.2
    Progressive Conservative David McCreadle 1,816 7.1
Total 19,058
1990 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes[11] Vote %
    New Democrat Anthony Perruzza 13,440 56.7
    Liberal Laureano Leone 8,180 34.5
    Progressive Conservative Chris Smith 1,471 6.2
Libertarian David Kenney 618 2.6
Total 23,709


1995 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes % Expenditures
Liberal Annamarie Castrilli 9,142 39.48 $36,676.53
New Democratic Anthony Perruzza 8,782 37.92 $36,600.54
Progressive Conservative Frank Ellis 4,444 19.19 $8,755.28
Independent Donato De Dominicis 572 2.47 $3,816.31
Green Tiina Leivo 217 0.94 $1,046.57
Total valid votes 23,157 100.00
Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 439
Turnout 23,596 63.90
Electors on the lists 36,926
"Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. 1995-06-08. Retrieved 2012-09-04.

References

Notes

Citations

  1. ^ "Four Jews Chosen for Ontario Provincial Parliament; Three Are Incumbents". Jewish Telegraph Agency. October 23, 1967.
  2. ^ For a listing of each MPP's Queen's Park curriculum vitae see below:
    • For Vern Singer's Legislative Assembly information see "Vernon Milton Singer, MPP". Parliamentary History. Toronto: Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 2012. Retrieved 2012-09-11.
    • For Odoardo Di Santo's Legislative Assembly information see "Odoardo Di Santo, MPP". Parliamentary History. Toronto: Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 2012. Retrieved 2012-09-11.
    • For Joseph Cordiano's Legislative Assembly information see "Joseph Cordiano, MPP". Parliamentary History. Toronto: Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 2012. Retrieved 2012-09-11.
    • For Laureano Leone's Legislative Assembly information see "Laureano Leone, MPP". Parliamentary History. Toronto: Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 2012. Retrieved 2012-09-11.
    • For Anthony Perruzza's Legislative Assembly information see "Anthony Perruzza, MPP". Parliamentary History. Toronto: Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 2012. Retrieved 2012-09-11.
    • For Annamarie Castrilli's Legislative Assembly information see "Annamarie Castrilli, MPP". Parliamentary History. Toronto: Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 2012. Retrieved 2012-09-11.
  3. ^ Canadian Press (1963-09-26). "78 in Tory Blue Wave -- 23 Is All Grits Saved". The Windsor Star. Windsor, Ontario. p. 25. Retrieved 2012-04-24.
  4. ^ Canadian Press (1967-10-18). "Tories win, but..." The Windsor Star. Windsor, Ontario. p. B2. Retrieved 2012-04-30.
  5. ^ Canadian Press (1971-10-22). "Here's who won on the Metro ridings". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. p. 12.
  6. ^ Canadian Press (1975-09-19). "Results from the 29 ridings in Metro". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. p. A18.
  7. ^ Canadian Press (1977-06-10). "How they voted in Metro area". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. p. A10.
  8. ^ Canadian Press (1981-03-20). "Election results for Metro Toronto ridings". The Windsor Star. Windsor, Ontario. p. 22. Retrieved 2012-08-24.
  9. ^ Canadian Press (1985-05-03). "The night the Tories tumbled; riding by riding results". Ottawa Citizen. Toronto. p. 43. Retrieved 2012-05-10.
  10. ^ "How Metro-Area Voted". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. 1987-09-11. p. A12.
  11. ^ "How Metro-Area Voted". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. 1990-09-07. p. A10.