York races boast new faces ahead of Ontario vote

YorkRegion.com
May 2, 2014
By Amanda Persico

Nothing says summer like a crisp beer on a patio or a sizzling steak on the barbecue.

Or a looming provincial election.

Ontarians are heading to the polls June 12 after Premiere Kathleen Wynne made it official by dissolving parliament earlier this afternoon - leaving about six weeks for campaigning.

Time is ticking faster for parties that don’t yet have a candidate in some York Region ridings.

According to the Ontario NDP riding support office, the party is still looking for candidates in three of Markham’s ridings. But Cindy Hackelberg, who ran in the Thornhill byelection a few months ago, is still listed as the NDP candidate for the riding. Sandra Yeung Racco, who also ran in the Thornhill byelection, is also listed by the Liberal party as the local candidate.

NDP candidates for the Newmarket-Aurora, Markham-Unionville, Oak Ridges-Markham, Thornhill and Vaughan ridings could not be confirmed at press time.

Here are the candidates so far for York’s provincial ridings:

Markham-Unionville:

16th Avenue to the north, Steeles Avenue to the south, 9th Line to the east and Hwy. 404 to the west.

- Incumbent: Michael Chan - Liberal

- Shan Thayaparan - PC

- Myles O’Brien - Green Party

Newmarket-Aurora:

Green Lane to the north, Bloomington Road to the south, Hwy. 404 to the east and Bathurst Street to the west

- Chris Ballard - Liberal

- Jane Twinney - PC

Oak Ridges-Markham:

Hwy. 9/Davis Drive and Bloomington Road to the north, King-Vaughan Road and Steeles Avenue to the south, York-Durham Line to the east and Hwy. 50 to the west.

- Incumbent: Helena Jaczek - Liberal

- Faird Wassef - PC

Richmond Hill:

Gamble and Elgin Mills roads to the north, Hwy. 7 to the south, Hwy. 404 to the east and Bathurst Street to the west.

- Incumbent: Reza Moridi - Liberal

- Vic Gupta: PC

- Adam DeVita - NDP

Thornhill:

Rutherford Road and Hwy. 7 to the north, Steeles Avenue to the south, Hwy. 404 to the east and Hwy. 400 to the west.

- Incumbent: Gila Martow - PC

- Sandra Yeung Racco - Liberal

- Teresa Pun - Green Party

Vaughan:

King-Vaughan Road to the north, Steeles Avenue and Rutherford Road to the south, Bathurst Street and Hwy. 400 to the east and Hwy 50 to the west.

- Incumbent: Steven Del Duca - Liberal

- Peter Meffe - PC

York-Simcoe:

Lake Simcoe to the north, Hwy. 9 and Ravenshoe Road to the south, Hwy. 12 to the east and Hwy. 27 to the west.

- Incumbent: Julia Munro - PC

- Loralea Carruthers - Liberal

- Laura Bowman - NDP