Don Valley West

Don Valley West is one of Ontario’s most storied provincial ridings, having served as the home base of former Premier Kathleen Wynne, who represented the seat from 2003 to 2022. The riding encompasses affluent neighbourhoods such as Lawrence Park, Leaside, and the Bridle Path, alongside the densely populated, lower-income communities of Thorncliffe Park and Flemingdon Park. Wynne announced in 2020 that she would not seek re-election, leaving the seat open for the first time in nearly two decades. The contest attracted high-profile candidates, including former Toronto police chief Mark Saunders for the PCs and former Bank of Canada board member Stephanie Bowman for the Liberals.

Candidates

Stephanie Bowman (Liberal) — Bowman is a chartered professional accountant and former senior executive at Scotiabank who also served as a partner at Ernst and Young. She holds an honours degree in Business Administration from Western University’s Ivey Business School. Before seeking office, she served as a member of the board of directors of the Bank of Canada and chaired its Audit and Finance Committee. She and her husband have lived in Don Valley West for over twenty-five years.

Mark Saunders (Progressive Conservative) — Saunders spent thirty-eight years with the Toronto Police Service and was appointed chief of police in April 2015, becoming the first Black Canadian to lead the force. He rose through assignments including the homicide squad, drug squad, emergency task force, and intelligence division. He retired in July 2020 and subsequently served as a special advisor on the Ontario Place redevelopment project. He was nominated as the PC candidate in March 2022.

Irwin Elman (NDP) — Elman is a child and youth advocate who served as Ontario’s Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth from 2008 to 2019, an independent officer of the legislature responsible for amplifying the voices of vulnerable young people. He previously worked as director of client service at Central Toronto Youth Services and manager of the Pape Adolescent Resource Centre. He received the 2019 Lynn Factor Stand Up for Kids National Award.

Sheena Sharp (Green Party) — Sharp is the founder and principal architect of Coolearth Architecture Inc. and a former president of the Ontario Association of Architects. She holds a Master of Architecture from the University of Washington and is a fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. She served as vice-chair of the Toronto 2030 District, a non-profit coalition working to decarbonize downtown Toronto’s buildings.

Laurel Hobbs (New Blue Party), John Kittredge (Libertarian), Kylie McAllister (Ontario Party), John Kladitis (Independent), and Paul Reddick (Consensus Ontario) also ran.

Local Issues

The departure of Kathleen Wynne created an unusually competitive open race in a riding that straddles two very different realities. In the affluent areas of Lawrence Park and Leaside, homeowners were focused on the Ontario Line transit project, which planned new subway infrastructure that could affect established residential streets. Construction impacts, noise, and property effects from tunnelling were concerns raised at community meetings.

Conversely, in the high-rise towers of Thorncliffe Park and Flemingdon Park in the southern part of the riding, residents faced many of the same challenges as their neighbours in Don Valley East: overcrowded housing, COVID-19 outbreaks, healthcare access barriers, and transit shortfalls. The stark income inequality within a single riding was itself a political issue, as candidates were challenged to address needs ranging from property tax concerns in multimillion-dollar homes to food insecurity in apartment towers a few kilometres away.

Long-term care was another prominent issue following revelations during the pandemic about conditions in Ontario’s long-term care homes. Residents across the riding called for stronger oversight, more beds, and better working conditions for personal support workers. Education funding, class sizes, and the Ford government’s approach to standardized testing and online learning also generated debate among the riding’s many families with school-age children.