Salma Zahid
Salma Zahid | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of Parliament for Scarborough Centre | |
| Assumed office October 19, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Roxanne James |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Coventry, England, UK |
| Citizenship |
|
| Political party | Liberal |
| Residence(s) | Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario |
| Alma mater | University of London Quaid-i-Azam University |
| Awards | Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal |
Salma Zahid MP is an English-born Pakistani-Canadian politician, who was elected as a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Canada to represent the federal riding of Scarborough Centre during the 2015 Canadian federal election. She succeeded the Conservative Roxanne James.[1]
Zahid was born in Coventry, England. She holds a Masters in Educational Management and Administration from the University of London’s Institute of Education, and an MBA from Quaid e Azam University in Pakistan.[2] She is Pakistani Canadian, mother of 2 and has resided in Scarborough since 2000.[3] She is a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.[4]
In February 2018, Zahid announced that she was taking medical leave to treat her Stage 4 Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. This was used by the Scarborough Centre Conservative Party of Canada Riding Association Vice President to sell memberships via robocall.[5] While recovering from chemotherapy treatment, Zahid wore a hijab for personal reasons, saying that she had grown closer to her Islamic faith while facing cancer. In May 2018, she became the first MP to wear a hijab in the House of Commons.[6] In July 2018, after completing six rounds of chemotherapy, Zahid was cancer-free and returned to her job.[5]
Zahid was re-nominated to run in Scarborough Centre for the Liberals in the 2019 Canadian federal election.[5]
Election results
| 2015 Canadian federal election: Scarborough Centre | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Salma Zahid | 22,753 | 50.5 | +18.61 | $111,259.09 | |||
| Conservative | Roxanne James | 14,705 | 32.7 | -2.18 | $96,481.13 | |||
| New Democratic | Alex Wilson | 5,227 | 11.6 | -19.06 | $24,264.68 | |||
| Libertarian | Katerina Androutsos | 1,384 | 3.1 | $1,452.03 | ||||
| Green | Lindsay Thompson | 960 | 2.1 | -0.47 | $1,627.92 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 45,029 | 100.00 | +22.33 | $203,985.80 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 407 | 0.90 | +0.33 | |||||
| Turnout | 45,436 | 64.36 | +10.02 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 70,594 | +0.46 | ||||||
| Liberal gain from Conservative | Swing | +10.39% | ||||||
Source(s) | ||||||||
References
- ^ "Liberal candidate Salma Zahid wins Scarborough Centre". Toronto Star. October 19, 2015.
- ^ "Biography: Salma Zahid". Liberal Party of Canada. October 15, 2016.
- ^ "Two Pakistani women emerge victorious in Canadian general elections". ARY News. October 20, 2015.
- ^ "Scarborough area Liberal MPs endorse John Tory".
- ^ a b c Aiello, Rachel (August 22, 2018). "'A new low': Conservative robocall tries to exploit Liberal MP's cancer diagnosis". CTV News. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
- ^ Massa, Ginella (August 21, 2018). "Scarborough MP responds to criticism over wearing hijab, says she's recovering from cancer". CityNews Toronto. Retrieved September 1, 2018.
External links
- Living people
- Liberal Party of Canada MPs
- Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario
- Women members of the House of Commons of Canada
- People from Scarborough, Toronto
- Ontario civil servants
- Women in Ontario politics
- Canadian politicians of Pakistani descent
- 21st-century Canadian politicians
- 21st-century women politicians
- Quaid-i-Azam University alumni
- Pakistani emigrants to Canada