Tuesday October 20, 2015
Ahmed Hussen the Liberal Party candidate for York South-Weston in the 2015 federal election.
Liberal candidate Ahmed Hussen swept York South-Weston with a strong lead.
The win would give the riding back to the Liberals following NDP incumbent Mike Sullivan's stint.
It would also make Hussen the first Somali-Canadian MP in Canada.
"We feel like finally, after 25 years, we are Canadian," said supporter Abokar Hassan, who is from Somalia.
Bounded by the Humber River, Highway 401, Caledonia Rd. and the Canadian Pacific Railway, York South-Weston is one of the GTA’s largest ridings.
Most of its 116,000 residents are renters and many are newcomers to Canada. Before New Democrat MP Mike Sullivan was elected in 2011, the riding was a Liberal stronghold, with Alan Tonks at the helm since 2000. Sullivan was running for re-election against new Liberal candidate Ahmed Hussen, a criminal defence lawyer and president of the Canadian Somali Congress.
John Johnson, a former Canada Post worker and real estate agent from York South-Weston, was the Green party candidate. The Conservative candidate was James Robinson, a bishop at Faith Open Door Ministries on Caledonia Rd.
“A whole bunch of stars aligned,” Sullivan said of winning the riding in 2011 by a 7 per cent margin. Former NDP Leader Jack Layton swayed voters, who were ready for new leadership.
This election, Sullivan said, “people miss Jack.” But they now know him, he said. His platform centred on housing, transit and leader Thomas Mulcair’s $15-a-day daycare proposal.
Hussen ran on the years of community service he put into the riding and other initiatives he was involved with, such as the Regent Park Community Council, which he co-founded.
Some have pointed out that Hussen doesn’t live in York South-Weston. “There are many ways to be part of a community; where you sleep is one of them,” Hussen said, adding that he had tutored at-risk children and owned a small business in the riding.