Ali Demircan seeking nomination to be Liberal candidate in provincial riding of Scarborough Southwest

By AMARACHI AMADIKE

Ali Demircan is seeking to represent the Ontario Liberal Party as its candidate in Scarborough Southwest when the next provincial election is called.

With the seat currently occupied by New Democratic Party MPP Doly Begum, Demircan said he hopes to bring a change to the ward he’s called home for the past eight years.

“At the end of the day, some people are being left behind and I don’t believe that all communities in Scarborough Southwest are being served,” said Demircan.

Begum has been MPP for Scarborough Southwest since the 2018 provincial election. She was re-elected to a second term in 2022. Prior to Begum’s election, the provincial riding of Scarborough Southwest was represented by Liberal Lorenzo Berardinetti from 2003 to 2018.

Demircan’s political journey began as the result of a traumatic experience.

On July 22, 2018, a seemingly normal hangout with his friends in the Logan and Danforth avenues area turned into a nightmare after a man, armed with a semi-automatic handgun, began shooting. Two people were killed in the Danforth Shooting and 13 others were injured. Demircan was grazed by one of the many bullets fired by the shooter that night.

“I went through a difficult time after, mentally, if I’m being honest,” he said. “Not just me, but also my family.”

Following the shooting, Demircan said he found extreme difficulty in receiving the proper support to help him navigate the experience.

He told Beach Metro Community News that he was forced to rely on personal relationships that then connected him with mental health support services. The current system of support for victims of crime in Ontario, he found, wasn’t structured in an efficient way that streamlines assistance.

“I have connections and friends who can show me the path to follow but there are people out there who are alone,” said Demircan.

Compelled to assist people having similar experiences, Demircan, who has been “working (on gun control strategies) with the federal government along with Danforth families and other advocacy groups”, said he spiraled into his newly found vocation, learning about the system, particularly about how gun safety can be improved within the community.

Through this work, Demircan said he learned that gun violence prevention partly begins with a review of Ontario’s system which is lacking programs for Scarborough’s youth –  and in particular young people who are vulnerable to falling into a life of crime due to a lack of support in their surroundings. 

This lack of support includes the province’s funding of the education system, he said.

“From first-hand experience with my daughter, I have seen how our education system has failed for the last six years because the government is not supporting the schools, teachers, or staff who are supporting the students,” said Demircan.

“These are kind of big problems for our future, so I just wanted to get involved,” he said of his decision to seek the candidacy for the Ontario Liberals in Scarborough Southwest.

With a strategy that encourages building from the ground up, Demircan said that one of his priorities would be investment in young people – giving them outlets to explore their potential.

He highlighted that as Canada’s economy continues to suffer – and an increasing number of parents are forced to be away from home for longer hours in order to make ends meet – many kids are left without the proper nurturing and support that leads to positive outcomes.

Investment in more programs that help youth improve on their skills and feel a sense of community support, he said, will play a major role in Scarborough’s security.

“If I can change some life and bring some relief to their problems, it would be a reward for me,” said Demircan of the many challenges facing young people today.

Another change Demircan hopes to instill in his community is support for small businesses who, he said, are suffering in the current economy.

With newly appointed Ontario Liberal leader Bonnie Crombie introducing the More For You Tax Cut – a plan that partly looks to cut the small business tax rate in half – Demircan said he has a similar stance, calling for a tax relief for small businesses to help boost Scarborough’s economy.

On affordability, Demircan highlighted rent stabilization as a key to rectifying Toronto’s affordability issues and aims to work on policies which ensure that “rent increase cannot be higher” than inflation.

“I want to come together with the developers to hear from them about their problems and the obstacles they’re facing,” he said.

In order for any of Demircan’s ideas to hold weight, however, the Ontario Liberal party will need to regain the power in Queen’s Park which it once had. From 2003 to 2018, the Ontario Liberals formed the provincial government, first under Premier Dalton McGuinty and then under Premier Kathleen Wynne.

In the 2018 provincial election, that saw the election of a majority government for the Progressive Conservatives under Doug Ford, the Liberals were reduced to just seven seats in Queen’s Park. Heading into that 2018 election, the Liberals had ruled with a majority government.

After the 2022 provincial election, and two byelections in 2023, the Ontario Liberals now have nine seats at Queen’s Park. The Official Opposition party in Ontario since 2018 has been the NDP.

Demircan said the Ontario Liberal Party is rebuilding itself and he is hopeful it will attract more residents back in support of Liberal causes.

“The whole team is changing,” said Demircan. “We have very passionate people joining the party, and these people are all coming from our communities. They know the problems of the communities. So I believe that the new candidates will make change instead of making wealthy people more wealthy.”

Demircan said he believes Premier Ford and the Progressive Conservatives are less willing to invest in the public and would rather invest in “wealthy friends or insiders”.

“I want to cover everyone,” said Demircan. “I want to listen to everyone and become their voice in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.”

With a majority government mandate from the 2022 election, Ford is not obligated to hold another provincial election until June of 2026. However, many political pundits believe he may call a snap provincial election early in 2025.

At this time, Demircan is the only person Beach Metro Community News is aware of who is seeking the nomination for the provincial Liberals in Scarborough Southwest. Also, an official date for a nomination meeting in the riding does not yet appear to have been set.