Mississauga South is a provincial electoral district

Electoral district (Canada)

An electoral district in Canada, also known as a constituency or a riding, is a geographical constituency upon which Canada's representative democracy is based...

 in Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, that has been represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario

Legislative Assembly of Ontario

The Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...

 since 1975.

It includes the neighbourhoods of Cawthra, Sheridan Heights, Park Royal, Clarkson, Rattray Park Estates, Lorne Park, Lorne Park Estates, Port Credit

Port Credit, Ontario

Port Credit is found at the mouth of the Credit River on the north shore of Lake Ontario, within the southcentral area of the city of Mississauga...

, Applewood Acres, Lakeview and Orchard Heights. It has a population of 113,003 and an area of 61 km².

In 2003, it was defined to consist of the part of the City of Mississauga lying southeast of a line drawn from northeast to southwest along the Queensway to the Credit River, west along the Credit River, and southwest along Dundas Street West to the southwestern city limit.

Members of Provincial Parliament

This riding has elected the following members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario

Legislative Assembly of Ontario

The Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...

:

1. Douglas Kennedy
   Douglas Kennedy (politician)
   Robert Douglas Kennedy was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1967 to 1985, as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party....
   
   , Progressive Conservative
   Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
   The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario , is a right-of-centre political party in Ontario, Canada. The party was known for many years as "Ontario's natural governing party." It has ruled the province for 80 of the years since Confederation, including an uninterrupted run from 1943 to 1985...
   
    (1975–1985)
2. Margaret Marland
   Margaret Marland
   Margaret Marland is a politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1985 to 2003, and served as a cabinet minister in the government of Mike Harris.Marland worked as a bank accountant and dental assistant in private life...
   
   , Progressive Conservative (1985–2003)
3. Tim Peterson
   Tim Peterson
   Tim Peterson is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, representing the Greater Toronto Area riding of Mississauga South...
   
   , Liberal
   Ontario Liberal Party
   The Ontario Liberal Party is a provincial political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. It has formed the Government of Ontario since the provincial election of 2003. The party is ideologically aligned with the Liberal Party of Canada but the two parties are organizationally independent and...
   
    (2003–2007), Independent (2007), Progressive Conservative
   Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
   The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario , is a right-of-centre political party in Ontario, Canada. The party was known for many years as "Ontario's natural governing party." It has ruled the province for 80 of the years since Confederation, including an uninterrupted run from 1943 to 1985...
   
    (2007)
4. Charles Sousa
   Charles Sousa
   Charles Sousa is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He is the Member of Provincial Parliament for the riding of Mississauga South, and is the province's Minister of Labour in the Cabinet of Premier Dalton McGuinty...
   
   , Liberal (2007–present)

Electoral history

Once one of the strongest bastions of PC support in the province (winning 61% of the vote as recently as 1999), and certainly in the Toronto area, Mississauga South provincially has become more and more Liberal in last election cycles, which can be attributed to the demographics of Mississauga South changing, with more socially-liberal-minded young families moving from Toronto into the area, and increasing ethnic populations which are usually Liberal friendly. Prior to Tim Peterson's very narrow upset victory in 2003 (despite a Liberal landslide province-wide, most pundits had predicted PC incumbent Margaret Marland would hold on to the seat), the area had not voted Liberal provincially since Confederation, and the PCs generally held the riding fairly easily (with some exceptions such as the 1987 election, which the PCs won by less than 1000 votes). The riding was one of the most watched in the 2007 election, as it was expected to be one of the closest races in the province. The voters, however, differed from expectations, handing Liberal Charles Sousa

Charles Sousa

Charles Sousa is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He is the Member of Provincial Parliament for the riding of Mississauga South, and is the province's Minister of Labour in the Cabinet of Premier Dalton McGuinty...

 a more than 5000-vote victory, as the PC vote fell almost 9% from 2003, which many viewed as a rejection of the automatic installing of floor-crossing Tim Peterson as the PC candidate. The Liberals and particularly the Green Party received the benefit of angry PC voters, seeing a 3% and a 6% rise in voting percentage, respectively.

Voters also rejected the proposal to change Ontario's electoral system from first past the post (FPTP) to mixed member proportional (MMP) in the 2007 electoral reform referendum. The status quo FPTP received 65% of the vote. Given the margin and the parties' and the candidates' positions on MMP (Peterson and the PCs against, Sousa undecided and the Liberals neutral, Cole and the NDP in favour, and Johnson and the Greens in favour), it appears that the vast majority of NDP

Ontario New Democratic Party

The Ontario New Democratic Party or , formally known as New Democratic Party of Ontario, is a social democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. It is a provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party. It was formed in October 1961, a few months after the federal party. The ONDP had its...

/Green

Green Party of Ontario

The Green Party of Ontario is a political party in Ontario, Canada. The party is led by Mike Schreiner. It has never held any seats in the Ontario Legislative Assembly; however, the party did see significant gains in the 2007 provincial election, earning 8% of the popular vote with some candidates...

 voters voted in favour of MMP, the vast majority of PC voters for FPTP, and the majority of Liberals for FPTP, with a sizeable minority voting for MMP.

Election results

2007 electoral reform referendum

Ontario electoral reform referendum, 2007 Ontario electoral reform referendum, 2007 An Ontario electoral reform referendum was held on October 10, 2007, in an attempt to establish a mixed member proportional representation system for elections to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario...
Side		Votes	%
	First Past the Post	26,121	65.1
	Mixed member proportional	13,985	34.9
	Total valid votes	40,106	100.0

Sources

• Elections Ontario Past Election Results