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Federal election results, 1979-2006
Provincial election results, 1977-2007
Mississauga South is a federal and provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1979, and in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 1975.
It includes the neighbourhoods of Cawthra, Sheridan Heights, Park Royal, Clarkson, Rattray Park Estates, Lorne Park, Lorne Park Estates, Port Credit, Applewood Acres, Lakeview and Orchard Heights. It has a population of 113,003 and an area of 61 sq. km.
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.
[edit] Political geography
Conservative support is centred in the interior of the riding, particularly in the upscale Lorne Park area, while the Liberals tend to do better along the waterfront of the riding, such as Port Credit and Lakeview, and the eastern and western edges of the riding.
[edit] Federal district
The federal riding was created in 1976 from parts of Mississauga and Mississauga Centre ridings.
It consisted initially of the part of the City of Mississauga lying south of a line drawn from west to east along Highway 5, south along Cawthra Road, and east along the Queen Elizabeth Way.
In 1987, it was redefined to consist of the part of the City of Mississauga lying south of a line drawn from southwest to northeast along Dundas Street West, east along the Credit River, northeast along the Queen Elizabeth Way, northwest along Cawthra Road, and northeast along the Queensway East to the eastern city limit.
In 1996, it was redefined to consist of the part of the City of Mississauga lying south of a line drawn from southwest to northeast along Dundas Street West, southeast along Erin Mills Parkway, northeast along the Queen Elizabeth Way, northwest along Hurontario Street, northeast along the Queensway East to the northeastern city limit.
In 2003, it was given its current boundaries as describved above.
For the next election, the Conservative candidates will be financial consultant Hugh Arrison, the Liberal candidate incumbent Paul Szabo, the Green Party of Canada running Richard P. Laushway, with the New Democratic Party (NDP) yet to nominate.
[edit] Federal Electoral History
The Mississauga South riding and it's precursors, while being more competitive than in provincial elections, still has a generally conservative history, and despite voting Liberal since 1993, could be described as a small "c" conservative riding. The Progressive Conservatives held the riding from creation its first election in 1979 under Don Blenkarn, (who served as MP for Peel South, one of the precursor ridings between 1972-1974), until 1993, when he was defeated by Paul Szabo. With the exception of the 1988 election, Szabo has been the Liberal candidate in every election since 1980 (an election he almost won.) The riding voting Liberal in 1993 can in part be blamed by vote splitting on the right, as Blenkarn was knocked into third place by the Reform Party candidate, although both were far behind Szabo, who only marginally improved on the Liberal performance from 1988, winning 37%, only 2% more than the 1988 Liberal result, and less then the combined vote total for the two right-wing parties. Szabo however greatly increased his percentage of the vote in the elections afterwards, winning over 50% in every election from 1997-2004, despite facing a united right-wing vote in 2004. The 2006 election saw Szabo and the Liberals re-election again, however the Liberal vote dropped sharply, with the Conservatives coming within 5% of winning the riding, getting 40% of the vote, one of the best performances for them in the Greater Toronto Area. The riding was generally assumed to be a top Tory target for the next election, however a general slump in Conservative numbers in Ontario, combined with the drawn out and somewhat acrimonious nature of the Conservative nomination process, and Szabo's increased profile as a result of his chairmanship of the House of Commons Ethics committe, may have damaged Conservative attempts to capture the riding.
[edit] Members of Parliament
This riding has elected the following members of the Canadian House of Commons:
[edit] Provincial district
[edit] Members of Provincial Parliament
This riding has elected the following members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:
- Douglas Kennedy, Progressive Conservative (1975-1985)
- Margaret Marland, Progressive Conservative (1985-2003)
- Tim Peterson, Liberal (2003-2007), Independent (2007), Progressive Conservative (2007)
- Charles Sousa, Liberal (2007-present)
[edit] Provincial 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 victory in 2003, 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 a 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 a 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 respectably.
Voters also rejected the proposal to change Ontario's electral 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/Green 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.
[edit] Federal election results
[edit] Provincial election results
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
Ontario electoral district
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