Doly Begum (Bengali: ডলি বেগম) is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 2018 provincial election.[1] She represents the riding of Scarborough Southwest as a member of the Ontario New Democratic Party. At 29, Doly Begum was the youngest New Democrat among the party's caucus[2] and is the first Bangladeshi-Canadian to be elected to a legislative body in Canada.[3]

Doly Begum
Begum in 2023
Deputy Leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party
Assumed office
July 13, 2022
Serving with Sol Mamakwa
LeaderPeter Tabuns
Marit Stiles
Preceded byJohn Vanthof and Sara Singh
Critic, Immigration Services and International Credentials
Assumed office
July 13, 2022
LeaderPeter Tabuns
Critic, Early Learning and Childcare
In office
August 23, 2018 – June 2, 2022
LeaderAndrea Horwath
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament
for Scarborough Southwest
Assumed office
June 7, 2018
Preceded byLorenzo Berardinetti
Personal details
BornMoulvibazar District, Bangladesh
Political partyNew Democratic
Residence(s)Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario
EducationUniversity of Toronto
University College London
Websitedolybegum.ca

Early life

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Begum was born in the Moulvibazar District of Bangladesh.[4] She immigrated to Canada as a child with her family,[5] and attended Gordon A. Brown Middle School and W. A. Porter Collegiate Institute.[6]

Thereafter, she obtained a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto in political science, and a Master of Arts in development, administration and planning from University College London. Prior to her candidacy, she was Co-Chair of the Scarborough Health Coalition, Vice-Chair of Warden Woods Community Centre, a research analyst at the Society of Energy Professionals, and was the chief coordinator of the province-wide Keep Hydro Public campaign.

Career

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As of August 11, 2024, she is the Official Opposition critic for Immigration Services and for International Credentials. Prior to that, she served as the Official Opposition Critic for Citizenship, Foreign Credentials and Immigration Services.[7] Prior to that, she was the Deputy Opposition Whip from August 2019 to February 2021, the Critic for Early Learning and Childcare from August 2018 to February 2021 and a Member of the Standing Committee on Social Policy from July 2018 to October 2019. Her critic portfolio changed to Immigration Services, and International Credentials following the 2022 Ontario general election.

On July 13, 2022, Begum was named a Deputy Leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party, alongside Sol Mamakwa.[8]

Election results

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2022 Ontario general election: Scarborough Southwest
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
New Democratic Doly Begum 16,842 47.68 +2.02 $103,194
Progressive Conservative Bret Snider 9,750 27.60 −3.62 $67,267
Liberal Lisa Patel 6,556 18.56 −0.38 $65,227
Green Cara Brideau 1,251 3.54 +0.84 $2,506
New Blue Peter Naus 383 1.08   $609
Ontario Party Barbara Everatt 320 0.91   $0
None of the Above James McNair 114 0.32 −0.19 $0
Independent Michelle Parsons 110 0.31   $0
Total valid votes/Expense limit 35,326 99.31 +0.42 $112,311
Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots 247 0.69 −0.42
Turnout 35,573 44.34 −8.85
Eligible voters 79,624
New Democratic hold Swing +2.82
Source(s)
  • "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 2022. Archived from the original on 2023-05-18.
  • "Statistical Summary by Electoral District" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 2022. Archived from the original on 2023-05-21.
2018 Ontario general election: Scarborough Southwest
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
New Democratic Doly Begum 19,835 45.66 +22.01
Progressive Conservative Gary Ellis 13,565 31.22 +10.58
Liberal Lorenzo Berardinetti 8,228 18.94 -31.28
Green David Del Grande 1,174 2.70 -1.37
None of the Above Allen Atkinson 222 0.51
Libertarian James Speirs 195 0.45 -0.44
Special Needs Willie Little 160 0.37
Trillium Bobby Turley 64 0.15
Total valid votes 43,443 100.0  
Source: Elections Ontario[9]

References

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  1. ^ Palamarchuk, Andrew (June 7, 2018). "NDP candidate Doly Begum ends Liberal reign in Scarborough Southwest". Toronto Star. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
  2. ^ "73 new MPPs ride Ontario's wave of change to Queen's Park". CBC News Toronto, June 16, 2018.
  3. ^ "Bangladeshi-origin Doly Begum becomes MP of a Canadian provincial House". Dhaka Tribune. 2018-06-08. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
  4. ^ "Doly Begum makes history, wins big in Ontario provincial polls". The Daily Star. June 8, 2018. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
  5. ^ "NDP candidate Doly Begum ends Liberal reign in Scarborough Southwest". Toronto Star. June 7, 2018. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
  6. ^ @DolyBegum (September 21, 2018). "Heading to my former high school - Satec @ WA Porter - to join the incredible students on the Ontario wide student walk out" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  7. ^ Raza, Ali (February 5, 2021). "Scarborough Southwest MPP Begum takes on new critic role for NDP at Queen's Park". Beach Metro Community News. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
  8. ^ "Scarborough Southwest MPP Doly Begum named deputy leader of Ontario NDP". Beach Metro Community News. July 13, 2022. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
  9. ^ "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. p. 8. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
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