Stan Cho takes PCs into Liberal territory

Progressive Conservative candidate and business owner Stan Cho has snatched the riding of Willowdale from long- time Liberal incumbent David Zimmer.

Cho, born and raised in Toronto, says his father’s experience as a South Korean immigrant — who ww worked long hours at a convenience store to save money and bring his family to Canada — has had a huge influence on him.

“He understood something essential about this place: as long as you’re not afraid of hard work ww there are opportunities here for everyone,” Cho says on his campaign website. Cho was declared winner minutes after the polls closed Thursday night.

Zimmer served as provincial minister of Aboriginal Affairs from 2013 to 2016 and later became minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation. He was first elected in 2003.

Zimmer first captured his seat in 2003 when he defeated David Young, a Progressive Conservative incumbent.

Willowdale has long been an affluent riding, where the vast majority of residents own expensive new homes. There are very vv few pockets of poverty, so the resentments in the area aren’t really fuelled by feelings of being left behind.

Rather, the frustration stems primarily from fast- paced growth and development that has congested traffic and overcrowded schools.

One of the largest sources of concern has been the Yonge St.Hwy. HH 401 interchange. Traffic lining up to get on to the 401 East removes an entire lane of Yonge St., backing up all the way ww to Sheppard Ave. It’s one of t the most congested stretches in Toronto, TT according to reports f from city hall.

City council has been pushing for improvements to the interchange for more than 10 years.

A sprawling riding, Willowdale has as its southern boundary Hwy. 401 and the west branch of the Don River. Its east and west boundaries are Bayview vv Ave. and Bathurst St. re- spectively.