Doly Begum

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
MPP
Begum in 2019
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

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.

As of February 2021, she is the Official Opposition Critic for Citizenship, Foreign Credentials and Immigration Services. 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.

She was the only member of parliament to publicly show her support for the protests against the torture of Hindus in Bangladesh.

Election results
2018 Ontario general election: Scarborough Southwest
Party Candidate Votes%±%
New DemocraticDoly Begum19,83545.66+22.01
Progressive ConservativeGary Ellis13,56531.22+10.58
LiberalLorenzo Berardinetti8,22818.94-31.28
GreenDavid Del Grande1,1742.70-1.37
None of the AboveAllen Atkinson2220.51
LibertarianJames Speirs1950.45-0.44
Special NeedsWillie Little1600.37
TrilliumBobby Turley640.15
Total valid votes 43,443100.0  
Source: Elections Ontario[7]

References
  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. "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. p. 8. Retrieved 20 January 2019.


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