Trinity—Spadina
Encyclopedia
Trinity—Spadina is a federal 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 Canadian House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

 since 1988.

It generally encompasses the western portion of Downtown
Downtown Toronto
Downtown Toronto is the central business district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is approximately bounded by Bloor Street to the north, Lake Ontario to the south, the Don River to the east, and Bathurst Street to the west...

 Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

. In the 2001 Canadian census, the riding
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...

 had 106,094 people, of whom 74,409 were eligible to vote.

Its federal Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) is Olivia Chow
Olivia Chow
Olivia Chow is a Canadian New Democratic Party Member of Parliament and former city councillor in Toronto. She won the Trinity—Spadina riding for the New Democratic Party on January 23, 2006, becoming a member of the Canadian House of Commons. Most recently, she was re-elected in her riding for...

 of the New Democratic Party
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...

. She defeated Tony Ianno
Tony Ianno
Tony Ianno, PC is a businessman and a former Canadian politician. He served as a Liberal Party of Canada MP representing Trinity-Spadina and Minister of Families and Caregivers .-Personal life:...

 of the Liberal Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

 in the January 23, 2006 election
Canadian federal election, 2006
The 2006 Canadian federal election was held on January 23, 2006, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 39th Parliament of Canada. The Conservative Party of Canada won the greatest number of seats: 40.3% of seats, or 124 out of 308, up from 99 seats in 2004, and 36.3% of votes:...

. The riding has long been a battle ground between the NDP and the Liberals, with the NDP recently winning both provincially and federally.

Major landmarks within the riding include the western portion of the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...

, the CN Tower
CN Tower
The CN Tower is a communications and observation tower in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Standing tall, it was completed in 1976, becoming the world's tallest free-standing structure and world's tallest tower at the time. It held both records for 34 years until the completion of the Burj...

, Rogers Centre
Rogers Centre
Rogers Centre is a multi-purpose stadium, in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated next to the CN Tower, near the shores of Lake Ontario. Opened in 1989, it is home to the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League...

 (formerly Skydome), Air Canada Centre
Air Canada Centre
The Air Canada Centre is a multi-purpose indoor sporting arena located on Bay Street in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada.The arena is popularly known as the ACC or the Hangar ....

, the Canadian Broadcasting Centre
Canadian Broadcasting Centre
The Canadian Broadcasting Centre, located in Toronto, Ontario, is the broadcast headquarters and master control point for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's English-language television and radio services...

, the Metro Toronto Convention Centre
Metro Toronto Convention Centre
Metro Toronto Convention Centre , located in Downtown Toronto, Ontario at 255 Front Street West, has of space. The convention centre was completed in October 1984 and is home to the 1330-seat John Bassett Theatre...

, Toronto City Hall
Toronto City Hall
The City Hall of Toronto, Ontario, Canada is the home of the city's municipal government and one of its most distinctive landmarks. Designed by Finnish architect Viljo Revell and landscape architect Richard Strong, and engineered by Hannskarl Bandel, the building opened in 1965...

, Kensington Market
Kensington Market
Kensington Market is a distinctive multicultural neighbourhood in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Market is an older neighbourhood and one of the city's most well-known. In November 2006, it was designated a National Historic Site of Canada. Robert Fulford wrote in 1999 that "Kensington...

, Chinatown
Chinatown, Toronto
Chinatown is an ethnic enclave in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, with a high concentration of ethnic Chinese residents and businesses extending along Dundas Street West and Spadina Avenue. First developed in the late 19th century, it is now one of the largest Chinatowns in North America and...

, Christie Pits
Christie Pits
Christie Pits Park, originally Willowvale Park, is a Toronto public recreational area located at 750 Bloor Street West at Christie Street, just west from the TTC Christie subway station...

, Trinity Bellwoods Park
Trinity Bellwoods Park
Trinity Bellwoods Park is located on the west side of downtown Toronto, Ontario Canada, bordered by Queen Street West on the south and Dundas Street on the north. The western boundary of the park is Crawford Street, running north to within a short block of Dundas, where the park extends further...

, the southern portion of Bay Street
Bay Street
Bay Street, originally known as Bear Street, is a major thoroughfare in Downtown Toronto. It is the centre of Toronto's Financial District and is often used by metonymy to refer to Canada's financial industry since succeeding Montreal's St. James Street in that role in the 1970s...

 and Palmerston Boulevard
Palmerston Boulevard
Palmerston Boulevard is a residential street located in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, two blocks west of Bathurst Street, between Koreatown and Little Italy.The Boulevard's well co-ordinated nature lends it its charm...

.

The riding is one of the most ethnically diverse in Canada containing the heart of Toronto's Chinatown, Koreatown, Little Italy, and Little Portugal. The northern section of the riding is the trendy Annex
The Annex
The Annex is a neighbourhood in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The traditional boundaries of the neighbourhood are north to Dupont Street, south to Bloor Street, west to Bathurst Street and east to Avenue Road...

 district, while the eastern edge contains part of the University of Toronto and thousands of students.

Demographics

Average family income: $81,415 http://www.cbc.ca/canadavotes/riding/202/ (2001)

Median family income: $50,047 http://www.ctv.ca/mini/election2006/directfeed/ridings/riding35095.html

Unemployment: 6.7%

Language, mother tongue: English 52%, French 2%, Other 46%

Religion: Catholic 32%, Protestant 15%, Buddhist 5%, Jewish 4%, Muslim 3%, No religious affiliation 33%, Other 7% http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/products/standard/fedprofile/RetrieveTable.cfm?R=FED03&G=35095

Visible Minority: Chinese 18%, Black 4% South Asian 3%, Filipino 2%, Southeast Asian 2%, Korean 2%, Others 6%

Geography

It consists of the Toronto Islands
Toronto Islands
The Toronto Islands are a chain of small islands in the city of Toronto, Ontario. Comprising the only group of islands in the western part of Lake Ontario, the Toronto Islands are located just offshore from the city centre, and provide shelter for Toronto Harbour...

 and the part of the City of Toronto bounded on the south by Toronto Harbour, and on the west, north and east by a line drawn from the harbour north on Spencer Avenue, east along the Gardiner Expressway, north on Dufferin, east on Queen Street West, southeast along the Canadian Pacific Railway line, north along Dovercourt Road, east along Dundas Street West, north along Ossington Avenue, east along the Canadian Pacific Railway situated north of Dupont Street, south along Avenue Road and Queens Park Crescent West, east along College Street and south along Yonge Street to the Harbour.

These borders were somewhat changed in the 2004 redistribution. The northwestern corner, a somewhat pro-NDP area was lost to Davenport
Davenport (electoral district)
Davenport is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1935. Its population in 2001 was 111,705.-Geography:...

. A large, but mostly business area of Toronto Centre—Rosedale between University Avenue
University Avenue (Toronto)
University Avenue is a major north-south road in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. At its north end, University Avenue is the site of the Ontario Legislative Building. The eight-lane wide street is the location for several hospitals, numerous office buildings, Osgoode Hall and the Four Seasons...

 and Yonge St. was given to the riding. This region tends to support the Liberals. The Toronto Islands were also added to the riding from Toronto Centre—Rosedale. This area is very strongly NDP and while it has a small population it is a highly activist one that provides many campaign workers for the New Democrats.

History

The riding was created in 1987 from Trinity
Trinity (electoral district)
Trinity was an electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons 1935 to 1988. It covered a portion of the western Toronto. Its name comes from the Trinity-Bellwoods area that was once home to Trinity College....

 and Spadina
Spadina (electoral district)
Spadina was a Canadian electoral district that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1935 to 1988. It covered a portion of the western-central Toronto. Its name comes from the Spadina Avenue, which runs through the heart of the riding....

, and smaller parts of Toronto Centre—Rosedale and Parkdale—High Park
Parkdale—High Park
Parkdale—High Park is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1979.Peggy Nash of the New Democratic Party was elected the Member of Parliament for the riding on May 2, 2011....

.

It consisted initially of the part of the City of Toronto bounded on the south by Toronto Harbour, on the east by Avenue Road, Queen's Park Crescent West, University Avenue and York Street, and on the west and north by a line drawn from the harbour north along Spencer Avenue, east along the Gardiner Expressway, north along Atlantic Avenue, southeast along the Canadian National Railway line, north along Dovercourt Road, east along Bloor Street West, north along Ossington Avenue, and east along the Canadian Pacific Railway line to Avenue Road.

In 2003, it was given its current boundaries as described above.

Members of Parliament

This riding has elected the following members of the Canadian House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

:
Parliament Years Member Party
Trinity
Trinity (electoral district)
Trinity was an electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons 1935 to 1988. It covered a portion of the western Toronto. Its name comes from the Trinity-Bellwoods area that was once home to Trinity College....

, Spadina
Spadina (electoral district)
Spadina was a Canadian electoral district that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1935 to 1988. It covered a portion of the western-central Toronto. Its name comes from the Spadina Avenue, which runs through the heart of the riding....

, Toronto Centre—Rosedale,
and Parkdale—High Park
Parkdale—High Park
Parkdale—High Park is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1979.Peggy Nash of the New Democratic Party was elected the Member of Parliament for the riding on May 2, 2011....

 prior to 1987
34th
Canadian federal election, 1988
The Canadian federal election of 1988 was held November 21, 1988, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 34th Parliament of Canada. It was an election largely fought on a single issue: the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement ....

1988–1993     Dan Heap
Dan Heap
Daniel James Macdonnell "Dan" Heap is a former Canadian politician with the New Democratic Party, a political activist and an Anglican priest. He represented the Toronto, Ontario, Canada riding of Spadina, which, in 1988, was renamed Trinity—Spadina, from 1981 until 1993...

New Democratic
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...

35th
Canadian federal election, 1993
The Canadian federal election of 1993 was held on October 25 of that year to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 35th Parliament of Canada. Fourteen parties competed for the 295 seats in the House at that time...

1993–1997     Tony Ianno
Tony Ianno
Tony Ianno, PC is a businessman and a former Canadian politician. He served as a Liberal Party of Canada MP representing Trinity-Spadina and Minister of Families and Caregivers .-Personal life:...

Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

36th
Canadian federal election, 1997
The Canadian federal election of 1997 was held on June 2, 1997, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 36th Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's Liberal Party of Canada won a second majority government...

1997–2000
37th
Canadian federal election, 2000
The 2000 Canadian federal election was held on November 27, 2000, to elect 301 Members of Parliament of the Canadian House of Commons of the 37th Parliament of Canada....

2000–2004
38th
Canadian federal election, 2004
The Canadian federal election, 2004 , was held on June 28, 2004 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority, but was able to form a minority government after the elections...

2004–2006
39th
Canadian federal election, 2006
The 2006 Canadian federal election was held on January 23, 2006, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 39th Parliament of Canada. The Conservative Party of Canada won the greatest number of seats: 40.3% of seats, or 124 out of 308, up from 99 seats in 2004, and 36.3% of votes:...

2006–2008     Olivia Chow
Olivia Chow
Olivia Chow is a Canadian New Democratic Party Member of Parliament and former city councillor in Toronto. She won the Trinity—Spadina riding for the New Democratic Party on January 23, 2006, becoming a member of the Canadian House of Commons. Most recently, she was re-elected in her riding for...

New Democratic
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...

40th
Canadian federal election, 2008
The 2008 Canadian federal election was held on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 40th Canadian Parliament after the previous parliament had been dissolved by the Governor General on September 7, 2008...

2008–2011
41st 2011–present

2011 election

The 2011 election was not the expected close race between the incumbent NDP MP Olivia Chow and Liberal candidate, Toronto lawyer Christine Innes (wife of former MP Tony Ianno), that some observers predicted. The Liberals did not make gains here, which were anticipated by those who believed that the number of condominiums along the Toronto waterfront would bring in more centrist and right leaning voters.

2006 election

A third battle between NDP challenger Olivia Chow and longtime Liberal incumbent Tony Ianno took place in the 2006 election
Canadian federal election, 2006
The 2006 Canadian federal election was held on January 23, 2006, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 39th Parliament of Canada. The Conservative Party of Canada won the greatest number of seats: 40.3% of seats, or 124 out of 308, up from 99 seats in 2004, and 36.3% of votes:...

. Ianno's narrow victory over Chow in 2004 had surprised most observers. Immediately after the writ was dropped for the federal election, Chow resigned her City Hall seat and vowed not to return to her previous job as municipal councillor. Chow ran a more disciplined campaign than in 2004, focusing on winning her own seat rather than lending her support to the national campaign of her husband, NDP leader Jack Layton. Ianno suffered from the broader decline in Liberal fortunes across Canada, ultimately losing to Chow by nearly six percentage points, the largest margin of victory in any of their three electoral encounters.

The strongest areas for the NDP were the Annex
The Annex
The Annex is a neighbourhood in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The traditional boundaries of the neighbourhood are north to Dupont Street, south to Bloor Street, west to Bathurst Street and east to Avenue Road...

, Seaton Village
Seaton Village
Seaton Village is a former unincorporated village located west of downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is named after John Colborne, 1st Baron Seaton, Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada from 1828 to 1836. Seaton Village is bordered by Bloor Street to the south, the train tracks to the north,...

, the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...

 area, Sussex-Ulster and Kensington Market
Kensington Market
Kensington Market is a distinctive multicultural neighbourhood in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Market is an older neighbourhood and one of the city's most well-known. In November 2006, it was designated a National Historic Site of Canada. Robert Fulford wrote in 1999 that "Kensington...

. The Liberals narrowly carried Little Italy
Little Italy, Toronto
Little Italy, sometimes referred to as College Street West, is a district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is well known for its numerous Italian Canadian restaurants and businesses. There is also a significant Latin American and Portuguese community in the area...

, and won the waterfront condo belt by a very wide margin.

2004 election

In the 2004 election
Canadian federal election, 2004
The Canadian federal election, 2004 , was held on June 28, 2004 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority, but was able to form a minority government after the elections...

, New Democrat city councillor Olivia Chow
Olivia Chow
Olivia Chow is a Canadian New Democratic Party Member of Parliament and former city councillor in Toronto. She won the Trinity—Spadina riding for the New Democratic Party on January 23, 2006, becoming a member of the Canadian House of Commons. Most recently, she was re-elected in her riding for...

 took on Tony Ianno
Tony Ianno
Tony Ianno, PC is a businessman and a former Canadian politician. He served as a Liberal Party of Canada MP representing Trinity-Spadina and Minister of Families and Caregivers .-Personal life:...

 again in what was expected to be a very competitive election. Additionally, Conservative
Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...

 David Watters, Green
Green Party of Canada
The Green Party of Canada is a Canadian federal political party founded in 1983 with 10,000–12,000 registered members as of October 2008. The Greens advance a broad multi-issue political platform that reflects its core values of ecological wisdom, social justice, grassroots democracy and...

 Anna Costa, Progressive Canadian Party
Progressive Canadian Party
The Progressive Canadian Party is a minor federal political party in Canada. It is a centre/centre-right party that was officially registered with Elections Canada, the government's election agency, on March 29, 2004....

 Asif Hossain, Canadian Action Party
Canadian Action Party
The Canadian Action Party is a Canadian federal political party founded in 1997. It promotes Canadian nationalism, monetary and electoral reform, and opposes neoliberal globalization and free trade agreements.- Background :The Canadian Action Party was founded by Paul T...

 Tristan Downe-Dewdney and Daniel Knezetic for the Popular Democratic Party contested the election.

The Popular Democratic Party was a social democratic and populist political party formed in 2003. It did not register as a political party with Elections Canada, and closed down after the 2004 election. The PDP proposed decentralization and community involvement in the political process through the creation of community councils to which any elected PDP representative would relinquish all decision making power. The party was anti-war, opposed globalization, was environmentalist, and supported full employment. Its only electoral activity was to run Daniel Knezetic, a University of Toronto student, in this election.

Unlike the 1997 battle between Chow and Ianno, this campaign largely remained civil. Chow was outside of the riding much of the time, campaigning in other ridings due to her national prestige. Many had pegged her to win because of her high profile as the wife of NDP leader Jack Layton
Jack Layton
John Gilbert "Jack" Layton, PC was a Canadian social democratic politician and the Leader of the Official Opposition. He was the leader of the New Democratic Party from 2003 to 2011, and previously sat on Toronto City Council, serving at times during that period as acting mayor and deputy mayor of...

. On election night, most were expecting Chow to win, but Ianno won a close but certain victory.

The results surprised many. Chow captured Little Italy, long Ianno's main bedrock of support and an area that polling and sign numbers showed as going strongly for Ianno. The reverse was true of the Annex which was expected to solidly vote for Chow but did so by a fairly small margin.

Ianno won on strong turnout from the waterfront condominiums that voted overwhelmingly in favour of him.

Prior elections

Note: Canadian Alliance vote is compared to the Reform vote in 1997 election.


See also


External links

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