Scarborough Southwest candidates named as Ontario election speculation swirls

With speculation heating up over the possibility of a snap provincial election being called next week, potential races in local ridings are starting to take shape.

In Scarborough Southwest, both the Liberal Party and the Green Party have announced the candidates they will be running against incumbent NDP MPP Doly Begum.

Qadira Jackson has been named as the Ontario Liberal candidate, and Mark Bekkering has been named as the Ontario Greens’ candidate for the riding.

At this moment, Beach Metro Community News is not aware of who the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario candidate is for Scarborough Southwest.

A lawyer and community volunteer, Liberal candidate Jackson lives in the Scarborough Southwest riding and her family has been rooted in Scarborough for more than 40 years

In addition to her law practice, Jackson co-founded a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion consulting firm called Blink Equity and has sat on many boards including the Canadian Association of Black Lawyers, the Canadian Association of Urban Financial Professionals, the Parish Council at her local church, and served as a Councillor on the Professional Engineers Ontario’s regulatory body.

She is also a committed community volunteer and currently sits on the Parent Council of her children’s school and is a Director at the West Scarborough Neighbourhood Community Centre. In her spare time, Jackson enjoys spending time with her spouse and two young boys, sewing, fashion design, DIY projects, and speaking at events to inspire youth.

Green Party candidate Bekkering is a committed community leader with more than 30 years of public service experience. Working with the City of Toronto, he spearheaded transformative initiatives including TransformTO, the Home Energy Loan Program, and PollinateTO. His work focuses on balancing climate action with the economic and social needs of his community.

 In a news release, Bekkering said he is frustrated by Premier Doug Ford and the previous Liberal government’s failure to address issues such as affordable housing, homelessness, climate change and traffic congestion, Bekkering joined the Ontario Greens in 2024.

Begum has been the NDP MPP for Scarborough Southwest since first being elected in the 2018 provincial election. She was re-elected in the 2022 provincial election and is the deputy leader of the Ontario NDP.

Prior to Begum’s election in 2018, Scarborough Southwest was held by Liberal MPP Lorenzo Berardinetti who had the seat since 2003.

Should Ontario Premier Doug Ford call a provincial election next week, as is being widely speculated, it will come less than three years into his majority Progressive Conservative government’s four-year mandate. Another provincial election in Ontario does not need to happen until June of 2026, but it has been rumoured Ford will call it early for a number of reasons.

For his part, Ford has been saying he needs a renewed mandate from Ontarians to deal with the threat of U.S. tariffs and other challenges presented by the new administration of recently inaugurated President Donald Trump.

Critics, however, say Ford has no need to call the election as his majority government (first elected in 2018 and now in its second term) already has a strong mandate, and his desire to call an early provincial election is to get ahead of what might be the possible fall out for his party if Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre is elected as Prime Minister later this year. Also, Ontario often votes in a provincial government of a different party than the one ruling in Ottawa, though there certainly have been exceptions to that over the years.

BEACHES-EAST YORK

The Beaches-East York riding has been held by Liberal MPP Mary-Margaret McMahon since the 2022 provincial election.

Prior to McMahon’s election, the riding was held by NDP MPP Rima Berns-McGown from 2018 to 2022. Berns-McGown did not run for re-election in 2022. Before her, Liberal Arthur Potts was the Beaches-East York MPP from 2014 to 2018. Prior to that, the riding was held by NDP MP Michael Prue from 2001 to 2014.

The Ontario NDP candidate for Beaches-East York come the next provincial election (whenever it is called) is Kate Dupuis. She also ran for the NDP in the riding in the 2022 provincial election, finishing second to McMahon.

The provincial candidates for the Progressive Conservatives and the Green Party in Beaches-East York have not yet been announced.

TORONTO-DANFORTH

The Toronto-Danforth riding has been held by NDP MPP Peter Tabuns since 2006.

The Liberal, Progressive Conservative and Green Party candidates for Toronto-Danforth are not yet known.