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Shafiq Qaadri

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Shafiq Qaadri
Qaadri in 2018
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament
for Etobicoke North
In office
October 2, 2003 – June 7, 2018
Preceded byJohn Hastings
Succeeded byDoug Ford
Personal details
Born1963 (age 60–61)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Political partyOntario Liberal
ResidenceToronto
EducationUniversity of Toronto
Profession
  • Physician
  • politician

Muhammad Shafiq Qaadri[1] (born c. 1963) is a Canadian physician and former politician who represented Etobicoke North in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2003 to 2018, sitting as a member of the Ontario Liberal Party. Qaadri is the first person of Pakistani origin to serve as a member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) in Ontario.

Early life and education

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Qaadri was born in Chicago. His parents had immigrated from Pakistan. The family moved to Toronto in the 1970s.[2]

Qaadri graduated from Upper Canada College in 1982, and from the University of Toronto Medical School in 1988. During his academic career, he won several scholarships including an English-Speaking Union Essay Prize to Oxford University and a Medical Research Council Scholarship in Clinical Neurosurgery.

Family

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Qaadri lives in Toronto with his wife and three children.

Medical career

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Before entering political life, Qaadri was commentator in the Canadian media for his discussions of medical issues (which he usually presented in a populist manner, intended for non-specialists). He has written over 75 articles on medicine for journals such as The Medical Post.[3][better source needed] Qaadri has been granted the position of Designated Medical Practitioner by the Canadian government.[4]

His book The Testosterone Factor: A Practical Guide to Improving Vitality and Virility, Naturally (ISBN 1569243786), on the subject of andropause (described as the male equivalent of menopause), was released in 2006.

He was the keynote speaker at the 40th annual convention of the Islamic Medical Association of North America in July 2007. He is also a speaker at numerous community groups in the Greater Toronto Area, teaching how about the prevention and heart disease to South Asian groups.[5]

Political career

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Qaadri ran in the 1999 provincial election as the Liberal candidate in the riding of Etobicoke North. He lost to Progressive Conservative John Hastings by 1,446 votes in Etobicoke North.[6] Hastings announced his retirement in 2003, and Qaadri was able to win the riding by nearly 10,000 votes in the election that followed.[7] He was reelected in 2007, 2011 and 2014.[8][9] Qaadri is the first person of Pakistani origin to become a Member of Provincial Parliament in Ontario.[10][11]

In the Legislature

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On October 23, 2003, he was named Parliamentary Assistant (PA) to Marie Bountrogianni in her capacity as Minister of Children and Youth Services.[12] In 2007 he was named as PA to the Minister of Health Promotion and in 2011 as the PA to the Minister of Government Services.[13][14]

In 2004, while working on recruiting new civil servants, he was quoted as saying "there's just too many white people" in Ontario's government agencies.[15]

In May 2010, a rally against government cuts to pharmaceutical spending was held outside his governmental office. Protesters stated, "He is a doctor. We thought he should be saying something."[16]

In September 2013, Qaadri introduced Bill 96, The Radon Awareness and Prevention Act. The bill would increase public awareness of the dangers of radon gas and mandate monitoring in all provincial buildings in the province.[17]

As of July 2014, he served as Parliamentary Assistant to the Premier of Ontario.

In May 2015, Qaadri tabled a petition that requested that the government withdraw its policy of only purchasing BlackBerry smartphones for MPPs and their staff. It requested that other devices such as iPhones and Android smartphones be allowed.[18] This was not the first petition on the topic by Qaadri, a similar petition with different language was tabled in April 2014.[19][20] John Chen, CEO of BlackBerry Ltd., released a statement demanding an apology because the language of the petition "reflects poorly on all of Canada".[21] Fellow MPP Daiene Vernile emphasized that Qaadri's petition is only his individual opinion and the Liberal government is "a strong supporter" of BlackBerry, and PC MPP Michael Harris said "if he wants the latest Apple apps he can do it on his own dime".[20] Qaadri issued an apology in a Twitter post the following week, saying "I want to offer my sincere apologies for any offence caused by the language in my petition on technology last week".[19]

On May 28, 2018, during the 2018 provincial election campaign, Shafiq and several Liberal staffers crashed an NDP rally in Etobicoke North hosted by leader Andrea Horwath, interrupting the event with shouting and displaying a large Liberal campaign sign. [22] Qaadri initially denied that his stunt was pre-planned, but later apologized for his actions being "rash and inexcusable".[23] He was subsequently defeated in the election, coming third behind Progressive Conservative Party leader Doug Ford and NDP candidate Mahamud Amin.[24]

Electoral record

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2018 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Doug Ford 19,055 52.48 +29.73
New Democratic Mahamud Amin 9,210 25.37 −0.84
Liberal Shafiq Qaadri 6,601 18.18 −26.73
Green Nancy Kaur Ghuman 1,026 2.83 +0.33
Libertarian Brianne Lefebvre 414 1.14 +1.14
Total valid votes 36,306 100.0  
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 407 1.12
Turnout 36,713 50.58
Eligible voters 72,580
Progressive Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +15.30
Source: Elections Ontario[25]
2014 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Shafiq Qaadri 12,168 44.90 −3.56
New Democratic Nigel Barriffe 7,103 26.21 +4.45
Progressive Conservative Tony Milone 6,163 22.74 −1.62
Libertarian Allan deRoo 706 2.61 –
Green Kenny Robertson 677 2.50 +0.33
Freedom James McConnell 281 1.04 −0.24
Total valid votes 27,098 100.0  
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 360 1.33
Turnout 27,458 42.71
Eligible voters 62,284
Liberal hold Swing −4.00
Source: Elections Ontario[26]
2011 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Shafiq Qaadri 12,081 48.46 −6.35
Progressive Conservative Karm Singh 6,072 24.36 +3.34
New Democratic Vrind Sharma 5,426 21.76 +6.90
Green Gurleen Gill 541 2.17 −2.59
Family Coalition Claudio Ceolin 391 1.57 −2.98
Freedom James McConnell 320 1.28  
Paramount Canadians Gopal Baghel 100 0.40  
Total valid votes 24,931 100.00
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 151 0.60
Turnout 25,082 40.15
Eligible voters 62,472
Liberal hold Swing −4.85
Source: Elections Ontario[27]
2007 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Shafiq Qaadri 15,147 54.85 +0.83
Progressive Conservative Mohamed Kassim 5,801 21.01 −1.50
New Democratic Mohamed Boudjenane 4,101 14.85 +3.51
Green Jama Korshel 1,312 4.75 +3.14
Family Coalition Teresa Ceolin 1,255 4.54 +0.44
Total valid votes 27,616 100.00
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 488 1.77
Turnout 28,104 45.19
Eligible voters 62,196
2003 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Shafiq Qaadri 16,727 53.98 +19.95
Progressive Conservative Baljit Gosal 6,978 22.52 −15.75
New Democratic Kuldip Singh Sodhi 3,516 11.35 −12.57
Independent Frank Acri 1,990 6.42
Family Coalition Teresa Ceolin 1,275 4.11 +2.41
Green Mir Kamal 503 1.62
Total valid votes 30,989 100.00
1999 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes %
Progressive Conservative John Hastings 13,065 38.27
Liberal Shafiq Qaadri 11,619 34.03
New Democratic Ed Philip 8,166 23.92
Family Coalition Mark Stefanini 580 1.70
Independent Diane Johnston 489 1.43
Natural Law Marilyn Pepper 223 0.65
Total valid votes 34,142 100.00

References

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Notes

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Citations

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  1. ^ @ONPARLeducation (July 13, 2022). "Within the halls of the Legislature are walls that contain the names of every Member of Provincial Parliament elected to Ontario's Legislature since 1867. The names for the 42nd Parliament were recently added. For the first time a Member's name was inscribed in Oji-Cree syllabics" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. ^ Benzie, Robert (July 5, 2007). "Ontario history in the making; All 3 major parties will field Muslim candidates in Etobicoke North in the Oct. 10 election". Toronto Star. p. A18.
  3. ^ "CBCA Complete: Health & Medicine". {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  4. ^ Canadian Medical Practitioners Archived December 2, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Accessed March 2, 2009.
  5. ^ Ogilvie, Megan (March 15, 2008). "South Asians face higher heart risk, MD warns; South Asian people especially vulnerable to heart attack, stroke, physicians warn". The Toronto Star. p. 4.
  6. ^ "Etobicoke North: Summary of valid votes cast for each candidate". Elections Ontario. June 3, 1999. Archived from the original on March 3, 2021.
  7. ^ "Etobicoke North: Summary of valid votes cast for each candidate". Elections Ontario. October 2, 2003. Archived from the original on October 25, 2014.
  8. ^ "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. October 10, 2007. p. 5 (xiv). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 7, 2009. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  9. ^ "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. October 6, 2011. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 30, 2013. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  10. ^ Office of the Premier (January 25, 2007). "Ontario Wraps Up Business Mission To Pakistan". news.ontario.ca. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
  11. ^ "General Election by District: Etobicoke North". Elections Ontario. June 12, 2014. Archived from the original on September 23, 2014.
  12. ^ "Minister Monte Kwinter and Etobicoke North MPP Shafiq Qaadri introduce Etobicoke North employers to Jamestown youth participating in the 'Youth at Risk' Jobs program". Ottawa: Canada NewsWire. July 20, 2004. p. 1.
  13. ^ "McGuinty Government Working To Reduce Injury In Ontario". Ottawa: Canada NewsWire. August 23, 2007. p. 1.
  14. ^ "In Brief". South Asian Focus. Brampton, Ontario. December 13, 2011. p. 1.
  15. ^ Blizzard, Christina (August 1, 2008). "Qaadri is Once Again on Hot Seat". Northern News. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 17, 2014.
  16. ^ Shephard, Tamara (May 28, 2010). "Pharmacists confront MPP over drug reforms". Etobicoke Guardian. p. 1.
  17. ^ "The Radiation Safety Institute of Canada Congratulates Ontario Legislature for Passing Bill 96, Radon Awareness and Prevention Act, 2013 to Committee". Marketwired. September 13, 2013.
  18. ^ "Official Records for 4 May 2015". Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Archived from the original on May 17, 2015. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  19. ^ a b CBC News (May 11, 2015). "BlackBerry CEO John Chen slams MPP Shafiq Qaadri for 'insulting' words". CBC News.
  20. ^ a b Latif, Anam (May 9, 2015). "BlackBerry use at Queen's Park defended". Waterloo Region Record. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  21. ^ Chen, John. "Tarnishing an Unsound Argument". Inside BlackBerry. BlackBerry Ltd. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  22. ^ "Liberal candidate crashes NDP Leader Andrea Horwath campaign event in Etobicoke". Global News. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
  23. ^ "Shafiq Qaadri on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
  24. ^ "Ontario election 2018: Etobicoke North riding". Global News. May 30, 2018. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  25. ^ "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  26. ^ Elections Ontario (2014). "Official result from the records, 025 Etobicoke North" (PDF). Retrieved June 27, 2015.[permanent dead link]
  27. ^ "Official return from the results / Rapport des registres officiels - Etobicoke North" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 2011. Retrieved June 6, 2014.[permanent dead link]
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