RACE FOR VAUGHANWOODBRIDGE EXPECTED TO BE HOTLY CONTESTED

Here is what you need to know about the Vaughanwoodbridge riding for the provincial election on June 2.

THE RIDING

With a population of 105,228, Vaughan-woodbridge borders Kingvaughan to its north, Thornhill to its east and the Peel border at Brampton East to its west. Its southern border meets Humber River—black Creek and Etobicoke North.

THE RACE

LIBERAL PARTY: STEVEN DEL DUCA — Steven is a first-generation Canadian, the son of immigrant parents who came to Canada looking for opportunity. They worked hard to find it and provide for their children. Steven works every day to honour that gift from his parents.

CONSERVATIVE PARTY: MICHAEL TIBOLLO — Prior to taking office, Minister Tibollo volunteered as a certified addictions counsellor, and advocated for a bed-based therapeutic community seeking to help those facing mental health and addictions challenges.

NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY:

WILL MCCARTY — Will is part Inupiaq and was born in Toronto. His family lived in University of Toronto student housing and then a housing co-op, where action to dismantle a community playground launched his family into politics.

GREEN PARTY: PHILIP PILURIS — Raised in Woodbridge, Piluris is a lifelong environmentalist and advocate for social, economic and housing equity and mental health.

NEW BLUE ONTARIO: LUCA MELE — We need a family mindset. I see my community as family, and family comes first.

THE ISSUES

Like elsewhere in the

Greater Toronto Area, affordable housing is a thorny issue. Amid the rising costs of living, Vaughan residents have always pushed for lower taxes when possible. Recently, Lowestrates.ca reported that Vaughan residents pay the lowest municipal property tax in the province, an indication of such ethos.

Development, traffic congestion, housing and transit are the other ingredients of a major cocktail of concern for the residents.

Last but not least, residents and businesses remain concerned about recovery from COVID-19, inflation, gas prices, the environment and a potentially, another wave of COVID-19.

BACKGROUND

Vaughan-woodbridge was created in 2015 and is largely focused around the large, urban/suburban community of Woodbridge.

In the previous election, Progressive Conservative Michael Tibollo won the riding with 50 per cent of the vote (21,687), upping his share of the vote by 23 per cent.

That rise from the previous election is almost exactly the same number lost by Liberal candidate Steven Del Duca, Tibollo's next closest rival and leader of the Ontario Liberal party, who is vying for premier.

In all, Del Duca lost 26 per cent worth of the vote since his previous win in the constituency. He garnered 13,742 votes.

The next closest candidate was New Democrat Sandra Lozano with 6,254 votes, followed by Green Michael Dipasquale with 972 votes and Libertarian Paolo Fabrizio with 291 votes. There were 42,946 votes out of 77,426 eligible voters, for about 55 per cent turnout.

DEMOGRAPHICS

Vaughan-woodbridge has the highest percentage of Italian-canadian people — more than half of the population at the riding.

Other minority groups include South Asian people, East Asian people, Southeast Asian people, West Asian people and Black people.

The average age of the population is 40.6 years old and many of its residents enjoy an annual income above the low income cutoff, especially considering that manufacturing is big in the area.

The area has made headlines after the inauguration of the new hospital, the Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital recently. The smart hospital was named after the Cortellucci family, who donated a whopping $40 million to bring this new edifice to fruition. The Ford-linked Cortelluccis, who are developers, are known for being Conservative donors.