Thornhill (electoral district)

Thornhill is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1997. It consists of the part of the city of Vaughan that is east of Highway 400 and south of Rutherford Road, and the part of the city of Markham west of Bayview Avenue. It covers the Thornhill neighbourhood, which is split between Vaughan and Markham. The riding was created in 1996 and the east end of the riding was split off into other ridings in 2012. It has been represented by Member of Parliament (MP) Peter Kent since 2008.

For the provincial electoral district, see Thornhill (provincial electoral district).

Thornhill

Ontario electoral district
Thornhill in relation to other Greater Toronto ridings
Federal electoral district
Legislature	House of Commons
MP	Peter Kent Conservative
District created	1996
First contested	1997
Last contested	2019
District webpage	profile, map
Demographics
Population (2016)[1]	112,719
Electors (2015)	80,288
Area (km²)[1]	62.90
Pop. density (per km²)	1,792
Census divisions	York
Census subdivisions	Markham, Vaughan

Thornhill 2003 to 2015

Map of Thornhill riding (2003 boundaries)

The riding was initially safe for the Liberals, and they won large majorities of the vote in its first two elections. In 2004, the large Jewish population started shifting toward the Conservative Party, and the Conservatives won the riding in 2008. After being targeted by the Conservatives as part of their strategy to win a majority in 2011, the riding became a Conservative stronghold.

Riding profile

The riding is named after Thornhill, a community first settled along Yonge Street in the mid-1790s, around the time of the street's opening.[2] The community of Concord occupies the northern and western parts of the riding.[3]

According to the 2016 census, the population of the riding was 112,719, up 2.1% from 2011. In 2015, the median income in the riding was $33,474 compared to $30,798 in 2010. The average income in the riding was $54,590 compared to $47,097 in 2010.[1][4] The most spoken non-official language in the riding is Russian (14.5%) and 16.4% of the population is of Russian Ethnic origin. The second largest ethnic origin is Chinese with 11.2% in 2016. About 37% of the riding's population is part of a visible minority.[1] The riding also has a large Jewish population (37.1% in 2011[4]) and has been cited as showing voting trends among Jewish populations.[5] The riding has a higher rate of postsecondary certificates, diplomas, and degrees than the Ontario average (66% compared to 55% for those aged 15+).[1] The riding has been described as a Conservative stronghold.[6]

History

1996-2004: Liberal dominance

The riding was first established in the 1996 redistribution from parts of York North and Markham—Whitchurch—Stouffville, consisting of the part of Vaughan east of Highway 400 and south of Rutherford Road, and the part of Markham west of Highway 404.[7][8] Both of the ridings Thornhill was originally part of elected Liberal MPs in 1993, though York North's Liberal vote share was about 17% more of the vote than that of Markham—Whitchurch—Stouffville.[9] The riding's redistributed result had the Liberals at 60%, triple the amount of the Progressive Conservatives (PCs).[10] In the 1997 election, Liberal candidate Elinor Caplan, who had previously served in the cabinet of former Premier David Peterson,[11] won with 59% of the vote, more than double the number received by PC candidate Bill Fisch, who came second.[12] Similarly to the previous election,[7] the Liberals had nearly swept the province of Ontario, this time winning all but two seats.[13]

In 1999, Caplan was appointed to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's cabinet as Minister of Citizenship and Immigration.[11] In the 2000 election, Caplan would win again, this time with nearly 65% of the vote and by more than four times the amount won by Canadian Alliance candidate Robert Goldin.[12] Provincially, the Liberals had won another near-sweep of Ontario.[14] In 2002, Chrétien moved Caplan to Minister of National Revenue.[11] During the 2003 electoral redistribution, a tiny part of the riding near Rutherford Road and Keele Street was transferred to Vaughan due to a slight change in Rutherford Road's alignment in the area.[8][15]

2004-2011: Shift to the Conservatives

On February 23, 2004, Caplan announced that she would not run in the next federal election. The Liberals then chose Susan Kadis, who was then a Vaughan City Councillor, as their candidate for the next election.[5][16][17] In the 2004 election, many ridings with large Jewish populations, Thornhill among them, started shifting toward the Conservative Party. The Liberal Party would end up losing 10% of the vote and they were now at 54.6%, about 20% more of the vote than Conservative candidate Josh Cooper.[5][18] In the 2006 election, both Kadis and the Conservative candidate got slightly less votes than in 2004.[19]

Shortly after the 2006 election, Kadis was chosen to be the associate critic for Infrastructure and Communities.[20] In March 2008, she was appointed National Revenue critic by Opposition Leader Stéphane Dion.[21] In the 2008 election, the Conservative Party chose Peter Kent, an established media personality who had ran in St. Paul's in 2006,[19] as their candidate. Kent would end up winning the riding with 49% of the vote compared to Kadis' 39%, possibly due to the fact that Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper promised continued support for Israel.[22]

2011-present: Conservative stronghold

Kent served as the Minister of State of Foreign Affairs for the Americas until a January 2011 cabinet shuffle when he was promoted to Minister of the Environment. This was met with some criticism as he was the fifth Environment Minister in five years. It also signalled Prime Minister Harper's determination to increase support in the Greater Toronto Area.[23] In the 2011 election, the Conservative Party targeted the riding as part of their strategy to gain a majority government and both Prime Minister Harper and Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff had campaign stops in the riding. Kent ended up increasing his vote share to 61%, compared to 24% for the Liberal candidate.[24][25]

During the 2012 redistribution, the area of the riding east of Bayview Avenue was transferred to Richmond Hill north of Highway 407 and the new riding of Markham—Thornhill south of Highway 407.[15][26] Concerns were raised about dividing the community of Thornhill into 2 ridings, suggesting that Concord be excluded from the riding instead. The name of the riding was also an issue, as the proposed name, "Vaughan—Thornhill" was thought to exclude Markham.[3] Markham was going to be added to the name before Kent suggested reverting the name to Thornhill, which ended up happening.[27] The redistributed result put the Conservatives 2% higher than the actual result.[25][28] In July 2013, Kent was shuffled out of cabinet, becoming a backbench MP.[29] During his tenure, critics had described him as "Canada's worst environment minister."[30][31]

In the 2015 election, Kent lost about 5% of the vote, now receiving 58.6% to the Liberal candidate's 33.7%.[28] Shortly after the 2015 election, Kent became the Conservative Foreign Affairs critic.[32] After a 2017 shadow cabinet shuffle, Kent became the Conservatives' Ethics critic.[33] In 2019, Kent won his fourth consecutive election with 54.6% of the vote to Liberal candidate Gary Gladstone's 35.4%.[34][35] After the 2019 election, Kent was appointed critic on immigration, refugees, and citizenship.[36]

Members of Parliament

Peter Kent in 2010

This riding has elected the following members of the House of Commons of Canada:

Parliament	Years	Member		Party
Thornhill Riding created from Markham—Whitchurch—Stouffville and York North
36th	1997–2000		Elinor Caplan	Liberal
37th	2000–2004
38th	2004–2006		Susan Kadis
39th	2006–2008
40th	2008–2011		Peter Kent	Conservative
41st	2011–2015
42nd	2015–2019
43rd	2019–present

Election results

Graph of general election results in Thornhill (minor parties that never got 2% of the vote or didn't run consistently are omitted)

2019 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Peter Kent	29,187	54.6	-3.9
	Liberal	Gary Gladstone	18,946	35.4	+1.6
	New Democratic	Sara Petrucci	3,469	6.5	+1.3
	Green	Josh Rachlis	1,600	3.00	+1.8
	Rhinoceros	Nathan Bregman	217	0.41	–
	Canada's Fourth Front	Waseem Malik	77	0.1	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			53,496	100.0		111,210.50
Total rejected ballots			583	1.07	+0.48
Turnout			54,079	63.8	-3.78
Eligible voters			84,808
Source: Elections Canada[35][37]

2015 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Peter Kent	31,911	58.60	-4.59	$123,230.74
	Liberal	Nancy Coldham	18,395	33.80	+11.31	$55,910.58
	New Democratic	Lorne Cherry	2,814	5.20	-6.29	$6,832.09
	Green	Josh Rachlis	627	1.20	-1.28	–
	Libertarian	Gene Balfour	587	1.10	–	$202.00
	Seniors	Margaret Leigh Fairbairn	157	0.30	–	$4,584.13
Total valid votes/Expense limit			54,491	100.0		$216,565.52
Total rejected ballots			324	0.59	–
Turnout			54,815	67.58	–
Eligible voters			81,106
Source: Elections Canada[38][39][28]

2011 federal election redistributed results[28]
Party		Vote	%
	Conservative	29,140	63.19
	Liberal	10,373	22.49
	New Democratic	5,299	11.49
	Green	1,142	2.48
	Others	160	0.35

2011 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Peter Kent	36,629	61.38	+12.37	$85,817.95
	Liberal	Karen Mock	14,125	23.67	-15.76	$89,258.36
	New Democratic	Simon Strelchik	7,141	11.97	+5.35	$5,397.91
	Green	Norbert Koehl	1,562	2.62	-2.32	$11,470.40
	Animal Alliance	Liz White	215	0.36	–	$7,002.05
Total valid votes/Expense limit			59,672	100.00	–	$99,784.20
Total rejected ballots			275	0.46	–
Turnout			59,947	60.98	–
Eligible voters			98,312	–	–
Source: Elections Canada[40]

2008 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Peter Kent	26,660	49.01	+15.30	$91,400
	Liberal	Susan Kadis	21,448	39.43	-13.67	$62,484
	New Democratic	Simon Strelchik	3,601	6.62	-1.19	$4,835
	Green	Norbert Koehl	2,686	4.94	+1.51	$7,314
Total valid votes/Expense limit			54,395	100.00	–	$95,547
Source: Elections Canada[41]

2006 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Susan Kadis	29,934	53.10	-1.48
	Conservative	Anthony Reale	19,005	33.71	-0.75
	New Democratic	Simon Strelchik	4,405	7.81	+0.83
	Green	Lloyd Helferty	1,934	3.43	+0.35
	Progressive Canadian	Mark Abramowitz	1,094	1.94
Total valid votes			56,372	100.00
Source: Elections Canada[42]

2004 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Susan Kadis	28,709	54.58	-10.01
	Conservative	Josh Cooper	18,125	34.46	+3.58
	New Democratic	Rick Morelli	3,671	6.98	+3.05
	Green	Lloyd Helferty	1,622	3.08
	Independent	Benjamin Fitzerman	241	0.46
	Independent	Simion Iron	233	0.44
Total valid votes			52,601	100.00
Source: Elections Canada[18]

Note: Conservative vote is compared to the total of the Canadian Alliance vote and Progressive Conservative vote in 2000 election.

2000 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Elinor Caplan	27,152	64.59	+5.59
	Alliance	Robert Goldin	6,643	15.80	+7.91
	Progressive Conservative	Lou Watson	6,338	15.08	-11.31
	New Democratic	Nathan Rotman	1,653	3.93	-0.67
	Canadian Action	Art Jaszczyk	254	0.60
Total valid votes			42,040	100.00
Source: Elections Canada[12]

Note: Canadian Alliance vote is compared to the Reform vote in 1997 election.

1997 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Elinor Caplan	25,747	59.00
	Progressive Conservative	Bill Fisch	11,517	26.39
	Reform	Aurel David	3,441	7.89
	New Democratic	Helen Breslauer	2,008	4.60
	Independent	Rick Levine	303	0.69
	Natural Law	Linda Martin	261	0.60
	Independent	Sid Soban	238	0.55
	Independent	Shel Bergson	124	0.28
Total valid votes			43,639	100.00
Source: Elections Canada[12]

1993 federal election redistributed results[10]
Party		%
	Liberal	60
	Progressive Conservative	20
	Reform	14
	New Democratic	3

See also

• List of Canadian federal electoral districts
• Past Canadian electoral districts

References

1. "Census Profile, 2016 Census Thornhill". Statistics Canada. 2016. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
2. "The Founding of Thornhill". www.thornhillhistoric.org. Society For The Preservation of Historic Thornhill. Archived from the original on April 30, 2018. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
3. Persico, Amanda (October 17, 2012). "Riding realignment raises questions in Markham". Toronto.com. Torstar. Metroland Media. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
4. "NHS Profile, Thornhill, Ontario". Statistics Canada. 2011. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
5. Fleisher, Zach (June 15, 2010). "SWITCHING SIDES: THE SHIFT IN JEWISH POLITICAL SUPPORT IN CANADA". Winnipeg Jewish Review. Archived from the original on July 31, 2016. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
6. Katawazi, Miriam; DeClerq, Katherine (October 21, 2019). "Who won in the 14 notable GTA ridings on Election Day?". CTV News. Bell Media. Retrieved April 30, 2020. The riding is a conservative stronghold
7. Results of the 35th Federal Election (PDF) (Map). 1:7,500,000. Elections Canada. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 5, 2017. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
8. "Thornhill ELECTORAL DISTRICT NO. 35085". elections.ca. Elections Canada. Archived from the original on June 28, 2001. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
9. "1993 Canadian Federal Election Results by electoral district". University of British Columbia. 1997. Archived from the original on October 18, 2019. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
10. "Election Handbook: Combat Zones". Maclean's. May 26, 1997. p. 75. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
11. Brown, Michael (February 27, 2009). "Elinor Caplan". Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. Jewish Women's Archive. Archived from the original on August 2, 2016. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
12. "Past Results - Thornhill". elections.ca. Elections Canada. Archived from the original on May 31, 2002. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
13. PACIFIC (1997). "1997 Canadian Federal Election Results (Detail)". esm.ubc.ca. University of British Columbia. Archived from the original on April 10, 2018. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
14. Schwartz, Bryan. "Proportional Representation for Canada?" (PDF). University of British Columbia. p. 140. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 10, 2019. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
15. "Thornhill – Historical data". elections.ca. Elections Canada. 2003. Archived from the original on June 12, 2019. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
16. "Elinor Caplan to step down". The Globe and Mail. February 23, 2004. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
17. "COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE SEPTEMBER 7, 2004-COUNCIL VACANCY WARD 5" (PDF). September 7, 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 21, 2006. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
18. "Poll-by-poll results of the 38th General Election". Elections Canada. 2004. Archived from the original on January 24, 2020. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
19. "OFFICIAL VOTING RESULTS - 39th General Election". elections.ca. Elections Canada. 2006. Archived from the original on January 24, 2020. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
20. St. Martin, Romeo (February 22, 2006). "Team Graham". Politics Watch. Archived from the original on November 19, 2008. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
21. "Thornhill MP named critic to national revenue portfolio". Newmarket Era. Torstar. Metroland Media. January 25, 2008. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
22. Levy-Ajzenkopf, Andy (October 23, 2008). "Kent beats Kadis in Thornhill". The Canadian Jewish News. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
23. MacCharles, Tonda; Brennan, Richard J. (January 4, 2011). "PM boosts Toronto MPs in cabinet: Kent, Fantino promoted". Toronto Star. Torstar. Archived from the original on July 2, 2018. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
24. Woods, Allan (April 18, 2011). "A 30-seat road map to a Tory majority". Toronto Star. Torstar. Archived from the original on August 25, 2017. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
25. Rider, David (May 3, 2011). "Liberal Karen Mock fails to unseat Tory star Peter Kent in Thornhill". Toronto Star. Torstar. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
26. Ontario Electoral Redistribution Commission (2012–2013). "Federal Redistribution Map - York" (PDF). 2012 electoral district redistribution. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 11, 2017. Retrieved April 19, 2020.CS1 maint: date format (link)
27. Ontario Electoral Redistribution Commission (2013). "Part II – Amendments to the Initial Report (July 31, 2013) – Ontario – Objections". 2012 electoral district redistribution. Archived from the original on December 11, 2017. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
28. "Thornhill, ON (2013 Rep. Order)". Pundit's Guide to Canadian Elections. Archived from the original on October 21, 2015.
29. Stone, Laura (July 16, 2013). "Shuffled out of cabinet – but hopefully not forgotten". Global News. Corus Entertainment. Archived from the original on January 11, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
30. Klein, Alice (April 28, 2011). "Don't waste NDP surge opportunity". NOW Magazine. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
31. Smith, Rick (July 11, 2013). "Is Peter Kent's trail of destruction finally coming to an end?". Toronto Star. Torstar. Archived from the original on May 5, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
32. The Canadian Press (January 21, 2016). "Too dangerous to reopen Canadian embassy in Iran, Conservative critic warns Liberals". National Post. Postmedia. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
33. Dickson, Janice (August 30, 2017). "Scheer names Poilievre finance critic, leaves Leitch out of shadow cabinet". iPolitics. Archived from the original on October 25, 2019. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
34. Lewis, Michael (October 21, 2019). "Kent wins the battle and keeps his Thornhill riding Conservative". Toronto Star. Torstar. Archived from the original on February 21, 2020. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
35. "FORTY-THIRD GENERAL ELECTION 2019 — Poll-by-poll results (Thornhill)". elections.ca. Elections Canada. April 6, 2020. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
36. Lim, Jolson (November 29, 2019). "Tories release list of 'shadow cabinet' members". iPolitics. Archived from the original on January 21, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
37. "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Archived from the original on October 8, 2019. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
38. "Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Thornhill, 30 September 2015". Archived from the original on 4 October 2015. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
39. "Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates". Archived from the original on 2015-08-15. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
40. "Poll-by-poll results of the 41st General Election". Elections Canada. 2011. Archived from the original on January 24, 2020. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
41. "Poll-by-poll results of the 40th General Election". Elections Canada. 2008. Archived from the original on January 24, 2020. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
42. "Poll-by-poll results of the 39th Canadian Election". Elections Canada. 2006. Archived from the original on January 24, 2020. Retrieved May 3, 2020.

Sources

• Riding history from the Library of Parliament
• 2011 results from Elections Canada
• [www.elections.ca Campaign expense data from Elections Canada]