The Scarborough Southwest city byelection: What you need to know about Thursday's vote

CBC News | Posted: August 28, 2023 6:45 PM | Last Updated: November 29, 2023

Some 4,374 eligible voters cast a ballot during the advance voting window

Image | Scarborough RT Rally

Caption: Debbie Naipaul, a member of 42 Voices, speaks in Scarborough, on Aug. 23, 2023 at what activists called a 'funeral' for the RT rail line. Expect transit and transportation to be key issues in the upcoming Scarborough Southwest byelection set for Nov. 30. (Alex Lupul/CBC)

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UPDATE | Thousands cast their ballots during advance voting window, with the final vote set for Thursday.

Scarborough Southwest residents go to the polls again Thursday to vote for their next city councillor.

Polling stations are open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and residents can use the city's MyVote website to find out where they should vote. Unlike the advance vote — a weekend of voting that saw 4,374 people cast a ballot, according to the city — Scarborough residents must use their specific polling station.

To vote, you must be:

A Canadian citizen who is at least 18 years old.
A resident of Ward 20 (Scarborough Southwest), or a non-resident who owns or rents a property in the ward.
Not prohibited to vote under any law.

According to Toronto Elections, to vote you will need to show identification with your name and qualifying address.

Remember, you can only vote once — no matter how many properties you own in the ward.

What triggered this byelection?

Toronto city council voted in favour of a byelection — set for Nov. 30 — following what basically amounted to political dominoes.

First, Liberal MPP Mitzie Hunter resigned from her provincial seat to enter the Toronto mayoral byelection, where she finished sixth.

Longtime Coun. Gary Crawford then resigned to run for the Ontario PC party in a bid to replace Hunter, but lost to Liberal Andrea Hazell. You can read about that vote here.

What's at stake?

Here's why this byelection matters: While Scarborough Southwest residents have their fair share of local concerns (whether it be transit and transportation, housing or perhaps even snow-clearing) the election will also affect the balance of power on city council.

CBC Toronto's city hall reporter Shawn Jeffords has this look at some of the most prominent candidates in the race and how the campaign has been shaping up

Olivia Chow became mayor in part by winning some parts of Scarborough that progressives hadn't in the past. Now, she'll see if the ward elects a progressive candidate or someone more aligned with Crawford, who served as former mayor John Tory's budget chief for years.

Who's running?

Here is the full list of 23 candidates vying for the Scarborough Southwest council seat:

Malik Ahmad.
Corey David.
Malika Ghous.
Thomas Hall.
Peter Handjis.
Jessica Hines.
Marzia Hoque.
Alamgir Hussain.
Anthony Internicola.
Syed Jaffery.
Naser Kaid.
Parthi Kandavel.
Walayat Khan.
Angus Mackenzie.
MD Abdullah Al Mamun.
Suman Roy.
Kevin Rupasinghe.
Sudip Shome.
Anna Sidiropoulos.
Sandeep Srivastava.
Trevor Sutton.
Reginald Tull.
Manny Zanders.

If you're looking for more in depth information, head to this part of the City of Toronto's website.

WATCH | What's the fastest (and most affordable) way to get across Scarborough with the RT down?

Media Video | What's the fastest way to get around Scarborough?

Caption: With the Scarborough RT down, CBC Toronto put three modes of transportation to the test to see whether driving, cycling or transit would be the fastest way to get from Kennedy Station to Scarborough Town Centre.

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