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Canada Votes 2008

Results, Ridings and Candidates

Etobicoke Centre

2008 Results

Etobicoke Centre
Party Candidate Votes Status
Updated: Nov. 7, 2008 5:00 PM EST 233/233 polls
LIB Borys Wrzesnewskyj 24,537 Elected
CON Axel Kuhn 18,838
NDP Joseph Schwartz 4,158
GRN Marion Schaffer 2,696

Unofficial results were updated at the time shown following judicial recounts in six ridings. For more recent results, visit Elections Canada. The CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external sites. External links will open in a new window.

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This residential riding in west-end Toronto runs the gamut from stately homes near the Kingsway to pockets of no-frills public housing.

Etobicoke Centre is bordered by the Humber River to the east, Highway 401 and Dixon Road to the north, the CP line, Mimico Creek, Burnhamthorpe Road and Highway 427 to the south and Etobicoke Creek and Dundas Street West to the west.

According to the 2006 census, the immigrant population is 44 per cent and more than 12 per cent is Italian. Forty-five per cent listed a mother tongue other than English or French. Italian, German and Portuguese are in the top three positions. Thirty-seven per cent of residents over age 25 have a university certificate or degree.

Manufacturing is the largest employer, followed by retail trade and the service sector. Average family income is $117,813 and the unemployment rate is 6.4 per cent.

Etobicoke Centre was created in 1976 from parts of the former Etobicoke riding and High Park-Humber Valley. In 1996, 21 per cent of Etobicoke North was added. In the 2004 redistribution, a small part of Etobicoke North was added to Etobicoke Centre's northeastern edge.

Population: 111,349 (2006 census; a decrease of 0.4% since 2001)

Political History

The Liberals have been in power in this riding since 1993. In 2006, Liberal Borys Wrzesnewskyj beat Conservative Axel Kuhn and received more than 50 per cent of the vote.

In the previous election, Wrzesnewskyj won with more than twice as many votes as his nearest competitor, Conservative Lida Preyma.

Liberal Allan Rock held the riding for three terms. Rock resigned in December 2003 and was named ambassador to the United Nations. He served in Jean Chrétien's cabinet as minister of justice, attorney general, minister of health and minister of industry.

Progressive Conservative MP Michael Wilson held the riding from 1979 to 1993. He was minister of finance for seven years under Brian Mulroney.

Liberal Alastair Gillespie was MP for Etobicoke Centre from 1969 to 1979 and served as minister of energy, mines and resources, minister of state for science and technology and minister of industry, trade and commerce under Pierre Trudeau.

Etobicoke:

  • 1968, 1972, 1974 - LIB

Etobicoke Centre:

  • 1979-88 inclusive - PC
  • 1993, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2006 - LIB