Michael Levitt (politician)

Michael Levitt is a former Canadian politician who represented the riding of York Centre in the House of Commons of Canada from 2015 to 2020 as a member of the Liberal Party.

Michael Levitt
Member of Parliament
for York Centre
In office
October 19, 2015 – September 1, 2020
Preceded byMark Adler
Succeeded byYa'ara Saks
Personal details
Born (1970-05-09) May 9, 1970 (age 54)[1]
Edinburgh, Scotland
Political partyLiberal
Residence(s)Toronto, Ontario
Alma materMcGill University

Background

edit

Born and raised in Scotland, Levitt came with his family to Canada when he was 14.[2] Levitt is Jewish.[3]

Levitt served as Chair of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee and Chair of the Canada-Israel Interparliamentary Group.[4]

Before running for office, Levitt was a founding member of the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee, co-chaired Liberal Friends of Israel, and served as a Partner and Vice-President of Business Development for the Benjamin Group in Toronto, a company providing lifecycle services to Toronto's Jewish community.[5] He has also served on the boards of Mount Sinai Hospital and the Koffler Centre of the Arts, both located in Toronto.[6]

Political career

edit

Levitt was first elected to Parliament in the 2015 federal election, defeating the Conservative incumbent, Mark Adler.[7][8] He was re-elected in the 2019 federal election.[9]

On August 4, 2020, Levitt announced he would resign as an MP, effective September 1, 2020, to become the President and CEO of the Canadian regional office of the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies.[10]

Electoral record

edit
2019 Canadian federal election: York Centre
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Michael Levitt 21,680 50.20 +3.32 $93,151.84
Conservative Rachel Willson 15,852 36.71 −7.29 $89,344.00
New Democratic Andrea Vásquez Jiménez 4,251 9.84 +2.51 none listed
Green Rebecca Wood 1,403 3.25 +1.45 $0.00
Total valid votes/expense limit 43,186 98.48
Total rejected ballots 665 1.52 +0.78
Turnout 43,851 61.76 -3.96
Eligible voters 71,000
Liberal hold Swing +5.31
Source: Elections Canada[11][12]
2015 Canadian federal election: York Centre
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Michael Levitt 20,109 46.9 +13.7
Conservative Mark Adler 18,893 44.0 -4.5
New Democratic Hal Berman 3,148 7.3 -8.6
Green Constantine Kritsonis 794 1.8 -0.5
Total valid votes/expense limit 42,944 100.0     $198,299.74
Total rejected ballots 319
Turnout 43,263
Eligible voters 64,297
Source: Elections Canada[13][14]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Profile". lop.parl.ca. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  2. ^ "Update: Getting to know 12 new Toronto Liberals you might not have heard of". Metro News. Archived from the original on October 2, 2016. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
  3. ^ "Here are the six Jewish MP's headed to Ottawa". November 10, 2015.
  4. ^ "Michael Levitt - Roles - House of Commons of Canada". Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  5. ^ "Six Jewish MPs Head to Ottawa". November 10, 2015. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  6. ^ "Michael Levitt Biography". Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  7. ^ "York Centre: Liberal Michael Levitt unseats Conservative Mark Adler". Insidetoronto.com. October 19, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
  8. ^ Morales, Steve. "Michael Levitt recaptures Liberal stronghold York Centre". Retrieved September 28, 2016.
  9. ^ Pataki, Amy (October 22, 2019). "Liberal Levitt triumphs for re-election in York Centre". Toronto Star. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  10. ^ "Toronto Liberal MP resigns to helm Jewish human rights organization". CBC News. August 4, 2020.
  11. ^ "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  12. ^ "Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  13. ^ Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for York Centre, 30 September 2015
  14. ^ Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
edit