ANALYSIS: What an intra-party battle says about the politics of byelections — and the future of the Ontario Liberals

You would be forgiven for thinking that the most bruising political battles are among members of different parties. The truth is, some of the most heartbreaking and vicious fights happen within parties, especially when the stakes are high.

That’s the case right now in the riding of Scarborough Southwest, where there will soon be a byelection to replace former Ontario NDP deputy leader Doly Begum, who switched to the federal Liberals and will try to become the next MP for the same constituency.  

As soon as Begum announced her intention to leave Queen’s Park, Qadira Jackson put up her hand and said she wanted to be the Liberal party’s nominee in the provincial byelection. Jackson is the so-called “candidate of record,” because she ran in Scarborough Southwest in the 2025 provincial election. She was appointed to the nomination by former leader Bonnie Crombie just two weeks before the election call.  

According to the customs of political courtesy, it behooves new challengers to call the candidate of record, just to let them know a new entrant will contest the nomination. Those calls usually go something like this: “Qadira, good for you for running last time, but I just wanted to let you know that I’m interested in running this time, so good luck to you, and whatever happens, let’s make sure we’re united after this is over so the Liberals can win the seat.” Or something like that.  

That did not happen in this case, at least, not for a month. And not at all like that.  

Nathaniel Erskine-Smith initially made it known on February 4 that, […] This is an excerpt. Read the full article at TVO.org.