Bas Balkissoon
Bas Balkissoon (born c. 1952) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2005 to 2016 who represented the riding of Scarborough—Rouge River. From 1988 to 1997 he was a municipal councillor in Scarborough and from 1998 to 2005 he was a councillor in the amalgamated city of Toronto.
Bas Balkissoon | |
|---|---|
.jpg.webp) Balkissoon in 2015 as Deputy Speaker | |
| Ontario MPP | |
| In office 2005–2016 | |
| Preceded by | Alvin Curling |
| Succeeded by | Raymond Cho |
| Constituency | Scarborough—Rouge River |
| Toronto City Councillor for Ward 41 Scarborough-Rouge River | |
| In office 2000–2005 | |
| Preceded by | New riding |
| Succeeded by | Paul Ainslie (interim) Chin Lee |
| Toronto City Councillor for Ward 18 - Scarborough Malvern | |
| In office 1998–2000 | |
| Preceded by | New riding |
| Succeeded by | Riding abolished |
| Scarborough City Councillor for Ward 13 | |
| In office 1988–1997 | |
| Preceded by | Bob Sanders |
| Succeeded by | Riding abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1952 (age 70–71) Trinidad and Tobago |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Spouse | Tahay Balkissoon |
| Children | 3 |
| Residence(s) | Toronto, Ontario |
| Portfolio | Deputy Speaker (2011-2016) |
Background
Born in Trinidad and Tobago, and of Indian descent, Balkissoon rose to prominence as the head of Scarborough Homeowners Alliance For Fair Taxes, an organization that challenged the province's property assessment system.[1] He is married to Tahay and together they have raised three children.[2] His daughter in law, Laura Jarrett, is an attorney and co-anchor for NBC News's Saturday "Today", daughter of Valerie Jarrett, former senior advisor to U.S. President Barack Obama.[3][4]
City Councillor
In 1988, he was elected to Scarborough city council in what was then Ward 13.[5]
With the formation of the new amalgamated city of Toronto, he was elected to Toronto City Council in 1997.[6] As chair of the city's Audit Committee he was credited with uncovering a dubious computer leasing deal between the city and MFP Financial, which eventually led to the formation of the Toronto Computer Leasing Inquiry.[7] Balkissoon also served for a period on the Police Services Board on which he was critical of then-Toronto Police Chief Julian Fantino as well as the Toronto Police Association and its leader at the time, Craig Bromell.[8]
Ontario legislature
In a by-election held on November 24, 2005, Balkissoon was elected as the Member of Provincial Parliament for the riding of Scarborough—Rouge River, replacing Alvin Curling who was appointed as the Canadian ambassador to the Dominican Republic. Balkissoon, as the Liberal Party candidate, won with 58% of the vote. Conservative candidate Cynthia Lai received 24% of the vote and the NDP's Sheila White finished third with 15%.[9] In the Liberal nomination prior to the by-election, the party chose to use a clause in its constitution that declared other candidates invalid, effectively handing the nomination to Balkissoon. This excluded other contenders such as Raymond Cho who considered putting his name forward.[10]
Balkissoon was easily re-elected in the 2007 provincial election, defeating his closest opponent by over 17,000 votes.[11] He was also re-elected in 2011,[12] and 2014.[13]
During his time in office he has been appointed to a number of Parliamentary Assistant roles including Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services (2006-7, 2014); Minister of Health and Long-Term Care (2007-10); and Minister of Community and Social Services (2010-2013). In 2011 he was named as Deputy Speaker and Chair of the Committee of the Whole House.[14]
On March 22, 2016 Balkissoon resigned from the legislature.[15][16]
Electoral record
| 2014 Ontario general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Bas Balkissoon | 16,134 | 38.86 | -3.01 | ||||
| New Democratic | Neethan Shan | 12,863 | 30.98 | -4.99 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Raymond Cho | 11,491 | 27.68 | +8.89 | ||||
| Green | George B. Singh | 569 | 1.37 | +0.12 | ||||
| None of the Above | Amir Khan | 461 | 1.11 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 41,518 | 100.0 | ||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | +0.99 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Ontario[17] | ||||||||
| 2011 Ontario general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Bas Balkissoon | 15,275 | 41.9 | -23.3 | ||||
| New Democratic | Neethan Shan | 13,130 | 36.0 | +22.5 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Ken Kim | 6,836 | 18.7 | +4.2 | ||||
| Libertarian | Felix Liao | 458 | 1.3 | -0.1 | ||||
| Green | George Singh | 448 | 1.2 | -2.5 | ||||
| Family Coalition | Raphael Rosch | 166 | 0.5 | -1.2 | ||||
| Freedom | Daniel Walker | 151 | 0.4 | +0.4 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 36,464 | 100.0 | ||||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | Bas Balkissoon | 22,362 | 65.2 | +7.6 | |
| Progressive Conservative | Horace Gooden | 4,962 | 14.5 | -10.4 | |
| New Democratic | Sheila White | 4,646 | 13.5 | -1.4 | |
| Green | Serge Abbat | 1,275 | 3.7 | +2.5 | |
| Family Coalition | Joseph Carvalho | 581 | 1.7 | +1.1 | |
| Libertarian | Alan Mercer | 492 | 1.4 | +0.8 | |
| Ontario by-election, November 24, 2005 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | +/- | |
| Liberal | Bas Balkissoon | 9,347 | 57.6 | -6.2 | |
| Progressive Conservative | Cynthia Lai | 4,032 | 24.9 | -0.3 | |
| New Democratic | Sheila White | 2,425 | 14.9 | +8.9 | |
| Green | Steven Toman | 167 | 1.2 | -2.3 | |
| Libertarian | Alan Mercer | 100 | 0.6 | - | |
| Family Coalition | Rina Morra | 93 | 0.6 | -0.8 | |
| Freedom | Wayne Simmons | 59 | 0.4 | - | |
References
- Abbate, Gay (November 17, 1988). "Trimmer's priority is ridding Scarboro of 'Scarberia' image". The Globe and Mail. p. D10.
- O'Neill, Susan (November 25, 2005). "Balkissoon easily wins byelection". The Scarborough Mirror. p. 1.
- "Obama attends wedding of Toronto Liberal MPP's son | The Star". Toronto Star. June 20, 2012.
- Brian Steinberg, 'Variety,' "Laura Jarrett Will Co-Anchor NBC’s Saturday ‘Today’" August 9, 2023 https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/laura-jarrett-saturday-today-nbc-news-1235691665/
- "Civic election '88". The Globe and Mail. November 16, 1988. p. A16.
- "1997 Toronto general election results". City of Toronto. 1997. Archived from the original on October 21, 2012. Retrieved July 12, 2013.
- Barber, John (October 18, 2001). "Will auditors get to the bottom of unsolved mystery?". The Globe and Mail. p. A23.
- Quinn, Jennifer (April 5, 2002). "Balkissoon resigns police board; Councillor unhappy with ceremonial role, chairman's actions". Toronto Star. p. B2.
- "By-Election 2005". Elections Ontario. November 24, 2005. Archived from the original on August 20, 2014. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
- Urquhart, Ian (October 5, 2005). "Liberals play rough on by-election". The Toronto Star.
- "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. October 10, 2007. p. 14 (xxiii). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 6, 2015. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
- "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. October 6, 2011. p. 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 30, 2013. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
- "General Election by District: Scarborough-Rouge River". Elections Ontario. June 12, 2014. Archived from the original on June 17, 2014. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
- "Legislative Reports". Canadian Parliamentary Review. November 11, 2011.
- "Liberal MPP Bas Balkissoon resigns his Scarborough-Rouge River seat in legislature". Global News. Canadian Press. March 22, 2016. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
- "Platt Tweets". twitter. March 22, 2016.
- "General Election Results by District, 083 Scarborough—Rouge River". Elections Ontario. 2014. Archived from the original on June 17, 2014. Retrieved June 17, 2014.