DON VALLEY EAST

Long-time MPP Michael Coteau has made the leap from Queen’s Park to the House of Commons, retaining the riding of Don Valley East for the Liberal Party of Canada.

Coteau defeated Conservative candidate Penelope Williams, the NDP’s Simon Topp, as well as People’s Party of Canada candidate Peter De Marco.

Don Valley East was widely regarded as one of the safest Liberal seats in the GTA. In the 2019 federal election, Liberal candidate Yasmin Ratansi crushed her Tory rival Michael Ma, winning 59.8 per cent of the vote to Ma’s 23.9 per cent.

Ratansi left the Liberal party to sit as an Independent late last year after it was revealed she had broken rules by using public funds to hire her sister as a constituency assistant. She didn’t seek reelection.

Coteau represented the riding provincially from 2011 until late August this year, when he stepped down to run federally.

Coteau was one of just seven Liberal MPPs to retain their seats in the 2018 Ontario election.