Orange battles for Hoskins’ old riding

As polls came in and early results pointed toward a PC majority provincewide, the former Liberal stronghold of Toronto— TT St. Paul’s was at risk of turning NDP orange.

As of 9: 35 p. m., New Democrat Jill Andrew had 8,299 votes to Liberal Jess Spindler’s 7,857 with 24 of 51 polls reporting.

The riding of Toronto— St. Paul’s has remained red since it was ww formed out of parts of five other ridings in 1996. Former Ontario Attorney General Michael Bryant held the riding from 1999 to 2009, when the mantle was taken up by Dr. Eric Hoskins. Hoskins left his position earlier this year to take on a leadership role in the formation of a national pharmacare plan, leaving the riding without an incumbent leading up to an election that promised to see the balance of power shift.

Toronto— St. Paul’s has long been seen as a safe Liberal seats, with the party taking home 58 per cent of the vote in each of the past two elections.

The party’s new candidate, Jess Spindler, is a lawyer and human hh rights advocate who has been outspoken on women’s health issues, consumer advocacy and more. She has some prior experience in government work, having worked as an adviser for both the Liberal Party of Canada and the Ministry of the Attorney General.

New Democrat Jill Andrew is co- founder of Body Confidence Canada, fighting against size and aa appearance- based discrim- ination. She is also community co- owner of the GLAAD Day Bookstore and a volunteer with organizations that support racialized minorities, women, the LGBTQ community and other marginalized groups.

Progressive Conservative candidate Andrew Kirsch worked in finance before joining the Canadian Security Intelligence Service ( CSIS) in 2005, where he worked in both Ottawa and Toronto, most recently as a team lead in the Special Operations Security Unity.