Don Stewart just won Toronto’s Liberal stronghold in byelection

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In a major upset for the Liberals, Conservative candidate Don Stewart won a Toronto stronghold in a byelection held on June 24. Stewart is slated to be the next member of Parliament for Toronto—St. Paul’s, an urban area that covers much of midtown Toronto.

Stewart won 42.1 per cent of the vote, compared to 40.5 per cent for Liberal Leslie Church, who was a close second. For more than three decades, the seat has been held by the Liberals, per CBC News.

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Here are four things to know about Stewart.

Stewart works in finance

Stewart has lived in the St. Paul’s district since 2016 with his two daughters, according to his page on the Conservative Party’s website. He works at the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization as a director of market surveillance “helping to keep our capital markets safe, fair, and efficient,” per the website. His past experiences include working as a director at BMO Capital Markets and Morgan Stanley.

He earned an engineering degree and his MBA in Business/Commerce from Queen’s University.

Stewart’s brother, J. D. M. Stewart, is a history teacher, writer and the author of Being Prime Minister, a book about the lives of Canada’s top leaders.

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Stewart is a reservist in the Canadian Armed Forces

Stewart is an Honorary Lieutenant-Colonel with the 2 Intelligence Company. He is the treasurer of the non-profit organization “devoted to enhancing and enriching the lives of past and serving soldiers and officers,” according to the Company.

“It’s people that care about this country,” he told the National Post in May, about those who become reservists. “You’re going to find the optimal solution and the viewpoints to help generate the best kind of interpretation of information available.”

He told the National Post that diverse backgrounds are important when it comes to intelligence work.

When discussing the role of a reservist, he quoted Winston Churchill, who said, “The reservist is twice the citizen.”

“He was referring to the fact that balancing day jobs with these roles is a way of giving back to your country,” said Stewart.

He has shown support for the Jewish community

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Roughly 10 per cent of the residents living in the Toronto—St. Paul’s area are Jewish, according to a 2021 population census by Statistics Canada. In Canada, antisemitic incidents have been on the rise since October 7, when Hamas terrorists attacked Israel sparking a war. Stewart has spoken out about antisemitic violence in Toronto.

“It must be unequivocally condemned by our leaders at all levels of government,” he said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, after a firearm was discharged outside of a Jewish elementary school in May.

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When the Jewish community in Toronto gathered in unprecedented numbers to show support for Israel, Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow and others were notably absent. However, Stewart attended and met with the community.

“Now more than ever, we must stand in solidarity with Jewish Canadians and the people of Israel,” he said in a post on X.

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He wants to ‘axe the tax’

Speaking to reporters ahead of his win, Stewart reiterated the message he has been pushing on the campaign trial.

“It echoes the things that Mr. (Pierre) Poilievre has said. “We want to axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime. I think I can add to that in Parliament.”

Poilievre, who has previously joined Stewart while he canvassed the Toronto—St. Paul’s district, wrote in a post on X that residents were “sick of a government that taxes food, punishes work, doubles housing costs and unleashes crime and chaos in the community.”

Poilievre called Stewart a “common sense Conservative.”

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