Election day (June 2) is one week away. This past month, party leaders have been criss-crossing the province sharing their platforms with the aim of building support for their political party. Meanwhile, candidates representing each political party have been doing much of the same within their local communities and constituencies.
This election gives electors the privilege to choose those candidates who may form the next provincial government. Several elements may factor into why electors would choose one candidate over another. Whether it is name recognition, competence, Party platform, past performance or future promises, every elector uses their own critical analysis to determine whose name to select on the ballot.
The goal is to elect a representative that will have their best interests at heart. The public wants a government that tackles key issues that are important to them. Things like the affordability crisis, inflation, housing costs, gas prices including health care and education. But to reach electors across Ontario, one must know who and where they are.
Over that last two months, the Corriere has provided information to its readership with focus on ridings where the concentration of Italians exceeds 8,000 residents. A total of 42 Ontario ridings fit that criterion. That is more than a third of all 124 districts across the province where the Italian population averages 12% of the total residents. Roughly one million Italians Canadians live in Ontario.
Due to timing constraints, it was not possible to cover the other remaining districts. However, our research has identified another twelve districts where the Italian diaspora exceeds 7,000 residents. Overall, they represent an average of 7% of the local population. (See Chart 1, above)
The constituencies which meet that criterion include areas like Etobicoke North, Parkdale-High Park and Spadina-Fort York. They also extend beyond the Toronto city limits into areas like Nepean in eastern Ontario and Hamilton Centre in the west.
Another seventeen districts meet similar criteria where more than 5,000 residents self-identify as Italian Canadian. While not as robust in numbers as some of the other districts, together, those constituents represent an average of 5% of the area’s inhabitants. Still, they are a significant concentration of the local population and have a culture of voting, (see chart 2).
These areas include districts in southwestern Ontario like London West, across to areas in Mississauga, up into Barrie and out in the eastern parts of the province around Ottawa. Of the remaining 53 electoral districts in Ontario, less than 5,000 residents of Italian origin reside in each of those ridings. Those numbers are quite significant especially in ridings where the margin of victory is less than 5,000 votes.
