TORONTO – Don Valley West is no stranger to people of privilege and wealth: middle-class and upper middle. There are numerous private schools of renown, a hospital of international repute and an offshoot of a university with a respected, if limited, program. Federally, it has been a Liberal fiefdom since the 1993 election. Provincially, it was a battleground for John Tory, then OPC leader and Katheleen Wynne. The latter emerged victorious even in 2018 when her party suffered ignominious defeat.
It is a “historic riding” in the sense that in 1832 “Rebel” – ragamuffins – whose courage was bolstered by the free-flowing alcohol at the Miller Tavern (still there) assembled to “invade” Toronto and take over from the Family Compact, a British government body of Mafia-like colonizers. They did not succeed. The staging area, in 1960, became infamously known as Hogg’s Hollow (site of industrial deaths of Italian workers, Pasquale Allegrezza, Giovanni Carriglio, Giovanni Fusillo, and Alessandro and Guido Mantella thanks to the careless disregard of their [TTC] overlords).
In 2022, it elected Stephani Bowman of the OLP notwithstanding the PC wave. Ford’s team is aiming to reverse that outcome. Today, 4,270 residents self-identify as Italian. Given today’s volatility, it appears their numbers are well within the margin of error of what is required to determine the final result. The PC have nominated Sam Moini, while the NDP have settled on Linnea Lostrom-Abary as their champion.
Article, researches and graphics by Priscilla Pajdo, funded by Heritage Canada’s Intership Program (photo and map: Elections Ontario)
