Paul Ferreira

Ferreira got his start as a political activist in 1990 when he joined the New Democratic Party (NDP). After completing a journalism degree at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ferreira returned to Brampton and was the federal NDP candidate in the riding of Brampton Centre in the 1997 election. He finished fourth in the race.[6]

In the spring of 2004, Paul Ferreira became the NDP's federal candidate in the west-end Toronto riding of York South—Weston. His main opponent was the incumbent Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) and former Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto chair Alan Tonks. The main issues in the election, and these were not limited to just York South–Weston, included anger over the governing Liberal party's Sponsorship scandal;[7] Health care; and the first budget by the Dalton McGuinty provincial Liberal government, which included the controversial "Ontario Health Premiums" tax.[8]

Despite the many setbacks that confronted the main Liberal campaign,[7] Tonks won the election.[9] Ferreira placed a respectable second. His campaign revived the NDP in York South–Weston and significantly increased the party's share of the vote in the riding to more than 21% (Tom Parkin, the NDP candidate in the 2000 election, received only 3.7% of the vote).

Subsequently, he ran again for the same federal office in the 2006 election. The election results were basically a repeat of the previous election, with Tonks finishing first and Ferreira in second place.[10]

He was also a candidate for Toronto City Council in the 2006 Toronto municipal election, finishing second in Ward 11.

York-South Weston riding map from Elections Ontario.

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  Paul Ferreira receiving congratulations from former NDP leader Donald C. Macdonald on Election Night.
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  Paul Ferreira speaking at his victory celebration, February 8, 2007
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  Former NDP Leader Howard Hampton and Paul Ferreira accepting victory in the York south–Weston by-election
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  Former NDP Leader Donald C. MacDonald passing-on the symbolic generational torch.

The provincial riding of York South—Weston, which corresponds closely to the boundaries of the federal riding,[11] at the time of the by-election was considered a Liberal stronghold. Historically, the York South part of the riding had been a CCF/NDP stronghold from the mid-1950s starting with Donald C. MacDonald to the mid-1990s with Bob Rae. After Rae resigned from the Legislature, the only NDP candidate that even came close to a victory was David Miller (currently Toronto's mayor, at the time a Metro councillor for Ward One), in the 1996 by-election.

The February 2007 by-election was necessitated by the resignation of former Liberal Member of Provincial Parliament Joe Cordiano, who resigned his seat in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the fall of 2006 to spend more time with his family.[12]

At the January 13, 2007 York South–Weston NDP nomination meeting,Ferreira successfully ran against Brian Donlevy to be the Ontario New Democratic Party candidate in the February 8, 2007 by-election. As the party's candidate, he campaigned on the following issues: the $10 hourly minimum wage;[13] the proposed Blue22 train to Toronto Pearson Airport;[14] the recent wage increases to members of the Ontario Legislature.[14]

February 8, 2007 was a very cold day, and that may have been a contributing factor in the low voter turnout. When the polling stations closed at 8:00 p.m., it took two hours to count the ballots and declare Ferreira the winner. At his victory party, Donald C. MacDonald (the former Ontario CCF/NDP leader from the 1953 to 1970 and local area MPP for almost thirty years), joined Ferreira onstage in a symbolic passing of the generational torch ceremony.[15] One of the coincidences of this NDP election victory was, that it came almost exactly 65 years to the day, when the CCF first won York South, in the February 9, 1942 by-election. In that election Joseph Noseworthy won a surprise victory, similar to Ferreira's.

On February 19, 2007, Paul Ferreira was sworn in as the tenth member of the NDP caucus in the Ontario Legislature.[16] In the NDP caucus, Ferreira held the critic portfolios for housing, citizenship and immigration.[17]

York South—Weston is not normally a reliable NDP seat, and the by-election had been marked by low turnout — as a result, going into the general election Ferreira was considered the most vulnerable NDP incumbent.

Ferreira again faced Laura Albanese, the same Liberal candidate as in the by-election. On election night, Albanese defeated Ferreira by a margin of less than 500 votes.

On Feb. 8, 2011—on the fourth anniversary of his by-election victory—Ferreira was acclaimed as the Ontario NDP candidate in York South—Weston for the 2011 election. He was once again defeated by Albanese.