Peter Fonseca

Peter Fonseca MP (born October 5, 1966) is a Portuguese-born Canadian politician and former athlete. He is a Liberal member of the House of Commons of Canada, representing the riding of Mississauga East—Cooksville since his election in 2015.

Peter Fonseca
MP
Member of Parliament
for Mississauga East—Cooksville
Assumed office
October 19, 2015
Preceded byWladyslaw Lizon
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament
for Mississauga East—Cooksville
Mississauga East (2003-2007)
In office
October 2, 2003 – March 26, 2011
Preceded byCarl DeFaria
Succeeded byDipika Damerla
Personal details
Born (1966-10-05) October 5, 1966
Lisbon, Portugal
Political partyLiberal
Other political
affiliations		Ontario Liberal
Spouse
Christine Fonseca
​
(m. 2003)​
Residence(s)Mississauga, Ontario
Alma materUniversity of Oregon,
University of Windsor
OccupationManagement consultant
Websitepeterfonseca.ca
For other people with a similar name, see Pedro da Fonseca (disambiguation)

Prior to entering federal politics, Fonseca was a provincial Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario representing Mississauga East (2003-2007) and Mississauga East—Cooksville (2007- 2011). He was a cabinet minister in the government of Dalton McGuinty.

Fonseca was re-elected his safe Liberal riding of Mississauga East—Cooksville with roughly 53% of the vote in the 2019 federal election and again with 50% of the vote in the 2021 federal election.

In the 44th parliament which was formed after the 2021 federal election (where the governing Liberals were re-elected with an increased minority), Fonseca was selected as the chair of the powerful Finance Committee.

Background

Fonseca was born in Lisbon, Portugal and immigrated to Toronto with his family in 1968. He was raised in Little Portugal. He graduated from St. Michael's College School and attended the University of Oregon, gaining a Bachelor of Arts on an athletic scholarship. He also holds a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Windsor.[1] He worked as a senior performance management consultant for the Coach Corporation and has run an importing and distributing company in Portugal.[2]

He married his wife Christine "Chris" Fonseca in 2003.[1] Christine was elected to Mississauga City Council as Councillor for Ward 3 in the 2010 Mississauga municipal election[3] and re-elected in 2014 Mississauga municipal election, 2018 Mississauga municipal election, and 2022 Mississauga municipal election.[4]

Athletic career

He finished 5th in the 10,000 metres at the 1994 Commonwealth Games. He also represented Canada at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia in the Men's Marathon. He was the top finisher for the Canadians, placing 21st overall in a 42.195-kilometre (26.219 mi) race with a time of 2 hours, 17 minutes and 28 seconds.[5] He also placed second in the 1994 Toronto Marathon and the 1994 Houston Marathon, and third in the 1992 New York City Marathon and the 1990 Los Angeles Marathon.[6]

YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
Representing  Canada
1994 Houston Marathon Houston, United States 2nd Marathon 2:13:53
1994 Toronto Marathon Toronto, Canada 2nd Marathon 2:17:16
1994 Commonwealth Games Victoria, Canada 5th 10,000 m 29:14.85
1995 Houston Marathon Houston, United States 1st Marathon 2:11:52
1996 Olympic Games Atlanta, United States 21st Marathon 2:17:28
1997 Toronto Marathon Toronto, Canada 1st Marathon 2:28:26

Politics

Provincial

Fonseca was elected to the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 2003, defeating incumbent Progressive Conservative Carl DeFaria by about 3,000 votes in Mississauga East.[7] On October 23, 2003, he was named parliamentary assistant to George Smitherman, the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. In July 2005, he became the parliamentary assistant to Jim Watson, the Minister of Health Promotion.

In October 2007, Fonseca was named to cabinet as Minister of Tourism and Recreation.[8] In a cabinet shuffle on September 18, 2008, Fonseca was appointed as the province's Minister of Labour.[9]

Federal

On December 16, 2010, Fonseca resigned from the Ontario cabinet to run for the federal Liberals in the riding of Mississauga East—Cooksville.[10] He was defeated by Conservative candidate Wladyslaw Lizon in the 2011 federal election by 676 votes.[11][12]

Fonseca ran for the Liberals again in the 2015 federal election and defeated Lizon by a wide margin as part of the Liberal sweep of Mississauga ridings. Fonseca was re-elected in the 2019 and 2021 elections. [13]

Fonseca's constituency office was on fire, on February 22, 2022. Peel Regional Police is investigating the matter as arson.[14][15][16][17]

Electoral record

Federal
2021 Canadian federal election: Mississauga East—Cooksville
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
LiberalPeter Fonseca22,80650.0-3.1
ConservativeGrace Adamu14,72232.3-1.3
New DemocraticTom Takacs4,67810.3+1.5
People'sJoseph Westover2,9336.4+5.2
IndependentGord Elliott3290.7N/A
Marxist–LeninistDagmar Sullivan1070.2-0.1
Total valid votes 45,57599.2
Total rejected ballots 3830.8
Turnout 45,95855.6
Eligible voters 82,603
Liberal hold Swing -0.9
Source: Elections Canada[18]
2019 Canadian federal election: Mississauga East—Cooksville
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
LiberalPeter Fonseca27,92353.1-1.13$54,292.81
ConservativeWladyslaw Lizon17,66433.6-1.75none listed
New DemocraticTom Takacs4,6438.8+0.17none listed
GreenMaha Rasheed1,5783.0+1.52$0.00
People'sSyed Rizvi6371.2$2,799.42
Marxist–LeninistAnna Di Carlo1780.3-0.01$0.00
Total valid votes/expense limit 52,623100.0
Total rejected ballots 483
Turnout 53,10662.1
Eligible voters 85,584
Liberal hold Swing +0.31
Source: Elections Canada[19][20]
2015 Canadian federal election: Mississauga East—Cooksville
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
LiberalPeter Fonseca28,15454.23+18.07$85,296.75
ConservativeWladyslaw Lizon18,35335.35-8.20$109,692.04
New DemocraticAli Naqvi4,4818.63-9.03$34,143.24
GreenJaymini Bhikha7661.48-0.69–
Marxist–LeninistTim Sullivan1630.31––
Total valid votes/expense limit 51,917100.00   $217,661.14
Total rejected ballots 2870.55
Turnout 52,20463.87
Eligible voters 81,736
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +13.13
Source(s)
  • "Mississaugs East--Cooksville". Election Results. Elections Canada. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
  • Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates
2011 Canadian federal election: Mississauga East—Cooksville
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
ConservativeWladyslaw Lizon18,79639.97+7.42$90,142
LiberalPeter Fonseca18,12038.53-11.63$71,450
New DemocraticWaseem Ahmed8,83618.79+7.44$6,591
GreenJaymini Bhikha1,0322.19-3.05$968
Marxist–LeninistPierre Chénier2410.51-0.16
Total valid votes/expense limit 47,025100.00 $169,151
Total rejected ballots 289 0.61
Turnout 47,314 56.8
Eligible voters 83,018
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +9.52
Source(s)
Elections Canada (2011). "Official Voting Results: Forty-first General Election". Retrieved 28 September 2015.

Provincial
2007 Ontario general election: Mississauga East—Cooksville
Party Candidate Votes%
LiberalPeter Fonseca22,24958.93
Progressive ConservativeZoran Churchin8,71523.08
New DemocraticSatish Balasunderam3,1928.46
GreenCarla Cassanova2,3616.25
Family CoalitionAl Zawadzki9922.63
FreedomRyan Jamieson2430.64
Total valid votes 37,752 100.0
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 349 0.92
Turnout 38,101 47.47
Eligible voters 80,247
Source(s)
Elections Ontario (2007). "General Election Poll by Poll Results, 048 Mississauga East—Cooksville" (PDF). Retrieved 24 August 2015.
Liberal pickup new district.


2003 Ontario general election: Mississauga East
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalPeter Fonseca16,68648.68+9.69
Progressive ConservativeCarl DeFaria13,83240.35-11.23
New DemocraticMichael Hancock2,4797.23-0.01
GreenDonald Barber6661.94
Family CoalitionGary Nail3581.04
IndependentPierre Chénier2560.75
Total valid votes 34,277 100.00
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 2520.73
Turnout 34,52951.38
Eligible voters 67,198
Liberal gain from Progressive Conservative Swing +10.46
Source(s)
Elections Ontario (2003). "General Election of October 2, 2003 Poll By Poll Results 47 Mississauga East". Retrieved 24 August 2015.

References
  1. Chin, Joseph (3 October 2003). "Fonseca rolls over incumbent DeFaria". Mississauga News. p. 6.
  2. "Healthy City Stewardship Centre: Biographies". City of Mississauga. 21 September 2006.
  3. "Fonseca claims Ward 3". Mississauga News. 26 October 2010.
  4. Chin, Joseph (27 October 2014). "Ward 3 Councillor Chris Fonseca Mississauga's champion vote-getter". Mississauga News. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  5. "The Official Report for the Centennial Olympic Games: The Competition Results, Volume III" (PDF). The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games. 1997.
  6. "Breland floors Honeyghan to retain his WBA crown". The Vancouver Sun. 5 March 1990. p. C3.
  7. "Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. 2 October 2003. Archived from the original on 3 May 2014. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  8. Ferguson, Rob; Benzie, Robert (31 October 2007). "Premier goes for new blood; Expanded 28-member cabinet has eight ministers from Toronto, three from 905 area". Toronto Star. p. A13.
  9. "The new-look Ontario cabinet". The Hamilton Spectator. 19 September 2008. p. A9.
  10. Benzie, Robert; Delacourt, Susan. "Ontario cabinet minister to seek federal seat". Toronto Star.
  11. "Riding results from across Canada". Edmonton Journal. 3 May 2011. p. A6. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  12. Campion-Smith, Bruce (14 December 2014). "Immigrant vote key to winning, Liberals say". Toronto Star. p. A8.
  13. Diebel, Linda (19 October 2015). "Peter Fonseca wins Mississauga East—Cooksville". Toronto Star. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  14. Rodrigues, Gabby (23 February 2022). "Police say 'suspicious' fire at Liberal MP office in Mississauga appears to be targeted". Global News Toronto. Toronto ON. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  15. "Police believe fire at MP's office in Mississauga, Ont., was targeted". Niagara Falls Review. St. Catharines ON. The Canadian Press. 23 February 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  16. Herhalt, Chris (23 February 2022). "Fire at Mississauga Liberal MP Peter Fonseca's office deemed suspicious: police". CP24. Toronto ON: BellMedia. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  17. "Assistance Sought in Arson Investigation". Peel Regional Police. Mississauga ON. 23 February 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  18. "List of confirmed candidates – September 20, 2021 Federal Election". Elections Canada. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  19. "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  20. "Election Night Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
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