Eglinton—Lawrence

The midtown Toronto riding of Eglinton—Lawrence entered the 2025 election as an open seat after incumbent Progressive Conservative MPP Robin Martin announced she would not seek re-election. Martin had held the riding since flipping it from the Liberals in 2018, ending a long period of Liberal dominance in this area of Lawrence Park, Lytton Park, and Lawrence Heights. Her departure set the stage for a fiercely competitive contest between the PCs and Liberals in a riding that had swung between the two parties over recent cycles. The NDP’s nominee, Natasha Doyle-Merrick, withdrew her candidacy before the nomination deadline in an effort to consolidate opposition support behind the Liberal candidate, leaving only three names on the ballot.

Candidates

Michelle Cooper (Progressive Conservative) — Cooper is a York University graduate with a master’s degree in political science who built a career spanning over two decades in corporate leadership, entrepreneurship, and non-profit management. She founded an early internet startup and later held senior roles in sales and marketing across multiple industries. Prior to entering elected politics, she served as executive director of the PC Ontario Fund.

Vince Gasparro (Liberal) — Gasparro is a finance executive and non-profit leader with advanced degrees from York University, the London School of Economics, and Villanova University. He served as Head of Sustainable Finance at Scotiabank’s Roynat Capital and at Vancity, Canada’s largest credit union, where he led clean energy infrastructure financing. His public service background included stints as principal secretary to Toronto Mayor John Tory and as a special assistant to Prime Minister Paul Martin.

Leah Tysoe (Green Party), who also ran in the riding in 2022, is a community volunteer with leadership roles at the MS Society and Transition Treemobile who advocates for sustainable urban food production.

Local Issues

The Eglinton Crosstown LRT remained the overriding local frustration during the 2022–2025 term. The project, which runs directly through the riding along Eglinton Avenue, had already missed its original 2020 opening target and continued to face delays stemming from software defects in the signalling system and improperly laid tracks. By the time of the February 2025 election, the line had still not opened for revenue service, and cost estimates had ballooned to roughly $13 billion — billions above initial projections. Businesses along the Eglinton corridor had endured well over a decade of construction disruption, and calls for a public inquiry into the project’s management intensified through 2024.

The ongoing revitalization of Lawrence Heights, one of Toronto’s largest public housing redevelopments, continued to reshape the riding’s southern end. Residents raised concerns about whether affordable housing commitments within the project would be fulfilled and whether existing community members would be displaced by higher-density development. More broadly, proposals for intensification around transit corridors continued to generate debate among residents of the riding’s traditionally lower-density neighbourhoods, who sought a balance between new housing supply and neighbourhood character.