Ahsanul Hafiz wins Scarborough Southwest provincial Liberal nomination; Nathaniel Erskine-Smith second
By MATTHEW STEPHENS
Ahsanul Hafiz has secured the Liberal nomination to run in the upcoming provincial byelection in the Scarborough Southwest riding.
“I’m honoured to have the support of Scarborough Southwest Liberals and I’m ready to get to work,” said Hafiz in a post on the Ontario Liberals’ website.
“This community deserves a strong voice at Queen’s Park that understands the challenges people are facing and is focused on delivering real results for local families.”
After a full day of ranked ballot voting to select the riding’s Liberal candidate in the upcoming provincial byelection, Hafiz emerged victorious with 718 votes, followed by Beaches-East York Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith with 699 votes by the third ballot of the ranked count. Other candidates seeking nomination were Qadira Jackson and Mahmuda Nasrin.
The voting took place at Birchmount Park Collegiate Institute on Saturday, May 9 from 11 a.m. until just after 4 p.m. to allow those remaining in line time to cast their votes.
During his opening speech, Hafiz said it was important for voters to elect a leader who understands the hardships of Scarborough Southwest residents, noting that certain opportunities “do not exist” to the same extent for immigrants.
“Like many of you, I came here as an immigrant,” explained Hafiz. “Ontario is not moving forward. I want to help build the same opportunities that were available to me.”
As a business owner, Hafiz said the cost-of-living crisis and supporting small businesses are his top priorities to address the needs of Scarborough Southwest residents.
While Hafiz and Nasrin focused on the newcomer experience in Canada, Jackson stressed the importance of choosing the right candidate for the role.
“I’m not going to sit here and talk to you about policy issues because this is a nomination,” said Jackson during her opening speech. “It’s about picking someone you believe in, that you trust and who you think will advocate for you, and that’s what I’m hoping I can instill in you today.”
The nomination race comes following a slew of political moves ignited by the riding’s former MP Bill Blair, who announced that he would be stepping down from the position to become Canada’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Following Blair’s announcement, Doly Begum, who was recently elected as Liberal MP for the riding, announced that she would be transitioning from the provincial NDP to run in the federal byelection on April 13.
With her seat left open at Queen’s Park, Erskine-Smith promptly announced he would be seeking the Liberal nomination to run in the upcoming provincial byelection for the Scarborough Southwest riding.
His move to Scarborough Southwest faced backlash from other Liberals seeking the candidacy, who argued that he has little connection to the area.
As the current MP for the neighbouring riding, Erskine-Smith said of all the nominees, his campaign is the only one with “the ability and experience and track-record of winning elections.”
“We have won four elections as a team, we came close to winning the Ontario Liberal leadership in 2023,” said Erskine-Smith during his speech.
First elected as Liberal MP in 2015, Erskine-Smith has served four terms in Beaches-East York. His political career has also seen him serve as the Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities from December 2024 to May 2025.
Following the results of today’s nomination race, Erskine Smith told reporters in a scrum in the parking lot that he needs to “debrief” with his team before speaking out about the outcome, suggesting the results may have been inaccurate.
“At one table, it was 50 per cent of the people that had ID issues, saying they lost driver’s licenses and that they lived in the area, so I don’t know,” Erskine-Smith said. “It’s unfair for me to specifically speculate.”
