Toronto Centre

This downtown Toronto riding mixes the wealthy enclave of Rosedale with the densely populated apartments of St. Jamestown and a noted gay district.

The riding stretches north from Toronto Harbour to the southern boundary of Mount Pleasant Cemetery, between the Don River in the east and Avenue Road, Queen's Park, College Street and Yonge Street in the west.

The population of the riding is among the most transient in Canada. Renters outnumber homeowners 68 per cent to 32 per cent. Almost 54 per cent of residents over age 25 have a university certificate or degree.

Professional, scientific and technical services account for 15 per cent of jobs in the riding. Finance and insurance, health and social services, and retail trade are all important sectors of th economy. Average family income is $144,996 – the seventh-highest in Canada – and the unemployment rate is 7.8 per cent.

According to the 2006 census 40 per cent of residents are immigrants, with a significant Chinese community of about 10 per cent of the total population..

The riding of Rosedale was established in 1933. Its name was changed to Toronto Centre-Rosedale in 1996 and to Toronto Centre in 2004, when it added a small part of St. Paul's in the northwest and Toronto-Danforth in the northeast.

Population: 121,407 (2006 census; an increase of six per cent since 2001)

Political History

In 2006, Liberal incumbent Bill Graham beat New Democrat Michael Shapcott and received twice the number of votes to win his fifth term. Graham also defeated Shapcott in the 2004 election.

In February 2006, Graham was appointed interim leader of the Liberals and became Opposition leader. Prior to that, Graham was minister of foreign affairs from 2002 to 2004, when then prime minister Paul Martin made him minister of national defence.

In 1988, PC David MacDonald, who had served four terms in Egmont riding in Prince Edward Island, defeated Graham by 80 votes. In 1993, Graham defeated MacDonald. In 1997, MacDonald transferred to the New Democrats and was defeated in Toronto Centre-Rosedale.

Liberal Donald Macdonald, who was government House leader; minister of defence; minister of energy, mines and resources; and minister of finance in the Trudeau era, was MP for Rosedale from 1962 to 1978, when he resigned.

In a byelection to replace him in October 1978, Conservative David Crombie was elected. Crombie was re-elected in 1979, 1980 and 1984, and was minister of health and welfare, minister of Indian affairs and northern development and minister responsible for multiculturalism in the Mulroney era. He resigned in 1988.

Rosedale:

• 1935, 1940, 1945 - PC
• 1949, 1953 - LIB
• 1957, 1958 - PC
• 1962-74 inclusive - LIB
• 1978 byelection-1988 inclusive - PC
• 1993 - LIB

Toronto Centre-Rosedale:

• 1997, 2000 - LIB

Toronto Centre:

• 2004, 2006, 2008 byelection - LIB