Mississauga East—Cooksville

Mississauga East—Cooksville covers a densely populated stretch of eastern Mississauga where the Hurontario Street and Dundas Street corridors intersect. The riding takes its name from Cooksville, a crossroads settlement that grew up around the enterprises of Jacob Cook, who arrived in the area in 1819 and built an inn and stagecoach operation along what became a major transportation hub. Today, rapid condo development along the Hurontario corridor has reshaped the skyline, while older postwar neighbourhoods of single-family homes persist in the Rathwood and Applewood areas to the east.

Candidates

Peter Fonseca (Liberal) — Born in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1966, Fonseca immigrated to Toronto with his family at age two and grew up in the Little Portugal neighbourhood. He attended St. Michael's College School and earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Oregon on an athletic scholarship. A competitive marathon runner, he represented Canada at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, finishing as the top Canadian in the men's marathon. He later served as a Liberal member of the Ontario Legislature from 2003 to 2011, holding cabinet posts as Minister of Tourism and Minister of Labour under Premier Dalton McGuinty. He won this federal riding in 2015.

Wladyslaw Lizon (Conservative) — Born in Nowy Sacz, Poland, Lizon earned a master's degree in mining engineering from AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow and worked in the Silesian coal mines before immigrating to Canada in 1988. He founded Gomark Enterprises, a stone consulting and machinery business, and served as president of the Canadian Polish Congress from 2005 to 2010. He held this seat from 2011 to 2015, during which time he shepherded Bill C-266, establishing Pope John Paul II Day, into law.

Tom Takacs (NDP) — A master electrician who also works as a contracted college instructor and continuing education instructor, Takacs carried the NDP banner in the riding.

Maha Rasheed (Green Party) — Rasheed stood as the Green Party candidate in the riding.

Syed Rizvi ran for the People's Party and Anna Di Carlo represented the Marxist-Leninist Party.

About the Riding

The intersection of Hurontario and Dundas remains the commercial and cultural heart of Cooksville, anchoring a neighbourhood that functions as a landing point for newcomers from around the world. The riding's residents speak dozens of languages, with significant Polish, South Asian, Filipino, and Arab communities shaping the area's commercial strips and cultural life. Trillium Health Partners' Mississauga Hospital campus, located on the Hurontario corridor, operates one of the largest emergency departments in Canada and is a major local employer. In 2019, the planned Hurontario Light Rail Transit line — set to run directly through the riding's main corridor — was a focal point of local discussion, with residents weighing the promise of improved transit against construction disruption to businesses along the route. Housing affordability and the pace of high-rise intensification along formerly low-rise commercial streets were also pressing concerns for a riding where population density was growing rapidly.