Etobicoke - Lakeshore

This riding in west Toronto is the southernmost of the three Etobicoke ridings. The northern section of the riding is comprised mainly of residential areas, while the southern section is residential and industrial-commercial.

It stretches from Lake Ontario in the south to Mimico Creek, Burhamthorpe Road and Dundas Street West in the north. The riding runs west to Highway 427 and Etobicoke Creek and east to the Humber River.

It is primarily a working-class constituency, with a large percentage of new Canadians. According to the 2006 census, the immigrant population is 40 per cent. The area has large Polish, Ukrainian and Italian communities.

The economy is broad-based with professional, scientific and technical services listed as one of the major sources of employment. This is followed by manufacturing, retail trade and other aspects of the service sector. The average family income is $105,881 and the unemployment rate is 6.3 per cent.

Etobicoke-Lakeshore was created in 1976 from portions of Toronto-Lakeshore and High Park-Humber Valley. In 1996, a small piece of Etobicoke Centre was added in the north.

Population: 114,641 (2006 census; an increase of 0.6% since 2001)

Political History

This riding has been Liberal territory since 1993. In 2006, Liberal Michael Ignatieff earned his seat as an MP when he defeated Conservative John Capobianco by 4,724 votes. In December of the same year, Ignatieff ran for the Liberal leadership, but lost to Stéphane Dion.

In the 2004 election, incumbent Liberal Jean Augustine defeated Capobianco by 9,750 votes. She held the riding since 1993 and was minister of state for multiculturalism and the status of women from 2003 until July 2004.

This riding has been held by the Tories, Liberals and NDP. New Democrat Terry Grier won in 1972. Liberal Ken Robinson took it in 1974, 1979 and 1980. Progressive Conservative Patrick Boyer won in 1984 and 1988.