Mississauga—Lakeshore

Mississauga—Lakeshore stretches along Mississauga’s waterfront from Port Credit in the west to Lakeview in the east, encompassing some of the city’s oldest established communities. Progressive Conservative Rudy Cuzzetto won the seat in 2018. Heading into 2022, the riding was at a crossroads: massive waterfront redevelopment projects were set to bring tens of thousands of new residents to the area over the coming two decades, and the next MPP would play a role in ensuring provincial infrastructure investment kept pace.

Candidates

Rudy Cuzzetto (Progressive Conservative) — Cuzzetto is a lifelong resident of the Mississauga lakefront area whose family’s roots in the community run four generations deep. He grew up in Port Credit, where his original family home is designated as a heritage property under the Ontario Heritage Act. Before entering politics, he worked at Ford Motor Company of Canada for 31 years, most recently as a vehicle auditor.

Elizabeth Mendes (Liberal) — Mendes grew up in the riding and worked previously in the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration, and Ministry of Finance. She owned a small business that helped local businesses access government support programs, and served as corporate secretary of a not-for-profit long-term care and affordable housing complex.

Julia Kole (NDP) — Kole holds a BA in accounting and an MSc in Environmental Policy and Management. She previously worked as a constituency assistant for an MPP in Brampton.

The remaining candidates included David Zeni for the Green Party, Renata Cynarska for the New Blue Party, George Cescon for the Ontario Party, and Brian Crombie for the None of the Above Direct Democracy Party.

Local Issues

The defining issue in Mississauga—Lakeshore was managing a massive wave of waterfront development. Lakeview Village, planned for the former Lakeview Generating Station lands, received master plan approval in November 2021 and was set to add approximately 8,000 new residential units to the area, effectively doubling Lakeview’s population. The Brightwater development, on a former 72-acre Imperial Oil refinery site, had approximately 3,000 residential units approved along with 300,000 square feet of commercial space. Redevelopment of the Port Credit Marina area added further to the scale of anticipated change.

Residents expressed concern that infrastructure was not keeping pace with the projected population influx. Traffic along Lakeshore Road during peak hours was already a source of frustration, and questions were raised about whether schools, health care facilities, and transit services would be sufficient to serve tens of thousands of new residents. Higher-order transit investment from the provincial government was seen as critical to the waterfront’s future.

Seniors’ issues were also prominent in the campaign. The riding’s established communities include a significant aging population, and Cuzzetto had focused on advocating for seniors’ programs and health care during his first term. The pandemic’s impact on long-term care homes made the issue of elder care even more urgent.