Willowdale

This Toronto riding contains part of the former city of North York, including its highly developed Yonge Street strip and many affluent residential areas.

It runs from Highway 401 in the south to Steeles Avenue East in the north, between Victoria Park Avenue, the hydro transmission line, Highway 404, Finch Avenue East and Leslie Street in the east, and the west branch of the Don River, Bathurst Street, the hydro transmission line and Yonge Street in the west.

According to the 2006 census, the immigrant population is 60 per cent, with 32 per cent giving Chinese as their ethnic origin. There are large Korean, Iranian and Jewish communities. The average family income is $94,233 and unemployment is 7.5 per cent.

Willowdale riding was established in 1976 from 57 per cent of York Centre, 35 per cent of York North and part of Eglinton Avenue. In 1996, there were substantial boundary revisions. In 2004, the southeast boundary moved east to Leslie Street and the northwest boundary moved west to Yonge Street.

Population: 129,356 (2006 census; an increase of 19.3% since 2001)

Political History

In 2006, Liberal Jim Peterson earned his sixth term when he won with 55 per cent of the vote over Conservative Jovan Boseovski. Peterson and Boseovski faced each other for the first time in 2004 when Peterson won with 61 per cent of the vote.

Peterson was secretary of state for international financial institutions from 1997 to 2002. In 2003, then prime minister Paul Martin named him minister of international trade. Peterson was the Liberal candidate in this riding since it was established. He was defeated in 1979 by PC Bob Jarvis and in 1984 by PC John Oostrom. In 1997, former Toronto police board chairman Norm Gardner ran for the PCs and lost to Peterson.

• 1979 - PC
• 1980 - LIB
• 1984 - PC
• 1988-2008 byelection inclusive - LIB