Yasmin Ratansi

Yasmin Ratansi MP
Member of Parliament for Don Valley East
Incumbent
Assumed office October 19, 2015
Preceded by	Joe Daniel
In office June 28, 2004 – May 2, 2011
Preceded by	David Collenette
Succeeded by	Joe Daniel
Personal details
Born	(1951-01-04) January 4, 1951 Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Political party	Liberal
Residence	Toronto
Profession	Accountant, management consultant
Religion	Ismaili Muslim

Yasmin Ratansi (born January 4, 1951) is a Canadian politician, who represented the riding of Don Valley East in the Canadian House of Commons from 2004 to 2011, later being re-elected in 2015. She is a member of the Liberal Party. Ratansi is an Ismaili Muslim, and was the first Muslim woman elected to the Canadian House of Commons.

Before politics

Born in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, she emigrated to Canada in 1974. She worked as a management consultant. She is a Certified General Accountant (CGA), a member of the Certified General Accountants of Ontario, and a fellow of the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada. In 2009, Ratansi was bestowed with the John Leslie Award by CGA Canada, given in recognition of CGAs "who have achieved a high and favourable profile in the Canadian community."

Politics

In 1979 Ratansi joined the Liberal party and campaigned for David Collenette. Later she was the federal Liberal candidate for Don Valley East in the 1988 federal election. In the nomination for the Liberal candidacy leading up to the vote, rival Mel Catre complained that voting irregularities allowed Ratansi supporters to vote freely while his supporters were barred from voting. A subsequent investigation failed to prove these allegations. Ratansi finished in second place 2,838 votes behind the Conservative winner Alan Redway. She served on the party's federal campaign committee in 1992 and was treasurer of the party's Ontario wing from 1993 to 1997. In 1998 she served as one of three co-chairs on the campaign to elect Mel Lastman as mayor of the newly amalgamated city of Toronto.

In 2004 she ran again facing former MPP David Johnson. During her campaign she spoke about the issue of immigrant underemployment. She also supported a publicly run health system. She won the riding by more than 10,000 votes.

During her tenure in parliament, Ratansi sat through three parliamentary sessions. During this time she acted as the Official Opposition's Critic for National Revenue and as critic for the Canada Revenue Agency. She also chaired a number of committees including the Status of Women and the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates. She also served as Liberal Caucus treasurer.

Electoral record

Canadian federal election, 1988
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Progressive Conservative	Alan Redway	18,719
	Liberal	Yasmin Ratansi	15,881
	New Democratic	Brant Loper	6,310
	Libertarian	Mark Meschino	538
	Independent	David Smith	271
	Communist	Maria Kontopidis	155

Canadian federal election, 2004
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Yasmin Ratansi	21,864
	Conservative	David Johnson	11,206
	New Democratic	Valerie Mah	5,287
	Green	Dan King	1,172
	Christian Heritage	Ryan Kidd	351
	Communist	Christopher Black	149

Canadian federal election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Yasmin Ratansi	23,441	54.0%
	Conservative	Eugene McDermott	12,661	29.2%
	New Democratic	Richard Alan Hennick	5,597	12.9%
	Green	Wayne Clements	1,714	3.9%
Total valid votes			43,413
Total rejected ballots			201

Canadian federal election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Yasmin Ratansi	18,264	47.8%
	Conservative	Eugene McDermott	11,777	30.8%
	New Democratic	Mary Trapani Hynes	5,064	13.2%
	Green	Wayne Clements	2,618	6.8%
	Christian Heritage	Alex Kovalenko	266	0.6%
Total valid votes			38165	100.0%
Total rejected ballots			178

Canadian federal election, 2011
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Conservative	Joe Daniel	14,421	36.7%	+5.7%
	Liberal	Yasmin Ratansi	13,552	34.5%	-13.57%
	New Democratic	Mary Trapani Hynes	9,878	25.1%	+11.78%
	Green	Akil Sadikali	1,207	3.1%	-3.79%
	Christian Heritage	Ryan Kidd	246	0.6%	-0.1%
Total valid votes / Turnout			39,304	57.1%

Canadian federal election, 2015
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Yasmin Ratansi	24,048	57.82	+19.43	–
	Conservative	Maureen Harquail	12,155	29.22	-7.16	–
	New Democratic	Khalid Ahmed	4,307	10.36	-11.52	–
	Green	Laura Elizabeth Sanderson	1,078	2.62	-0.21	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			41,588	100.0		$197,247.29
Total rejected ballots			257	–	–
Turnout			41,845	–	–
Eligible voters			62,682
Source: Elections Canada

External links

• Yasmin Ratansi – Parliament of Canada biography