# Bas Balkissoon

Bas Balkissoon (born c. 1952) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2005 to 2016 who represented the riding of Scarborough—Rouge River. From 1988 to 1997 he was a municipal councillor in Scarborough and from 1998 to 2005 he was a councillor in the amalgamated city of Toronto.

## Background

Born in Trinidad and Tobago, and of Indian descent, Balkissoon rose to prominence as the head of Scarborough Homeowners Alliance For Fair Taxes, an organization that challenged the province's property assessment system. He is married to Tahay and together they have raised three children. His son is married to Laura Jarrett, a co-anchor for NBC News's Saturday "Today" and daughter of Valerie Jarrett, who was a former senior advisor to U.S. President Barack Obama.

## City Councillor

In 1988, he was elected to Scarborough city council in what was then Ward 13.
With the formation of the new amalgamated city of Toronto, he was elected to Toronto City Council in 1997. As chair of the city's Audit Committee he was credited with uncovering a dubious computer leasing deal between the city and MFP Financial, which eventually led to the formation of the Toronto Computer Leasing Inquiry. Balkissoon also served for a period on the Police Services Board on which he was critical of then-Toronto Police Chief Julian Fantino as well as the Toronto Police Association and its leader at the time, Craig Bromell.

## Ontario legislature

In a by-election held on November 24, 2005, Balkissoon was elected as the Member of Provincial Parliament for the riding of Scarborough—Rouge River, replacing Alvin Curling who was appointed as the Canadian ambassador to the Dominican Republic. Balkissoon, as the Liberal Party candidate, won with 58% of the vote. Conservative candidate Cynthia Lai received 24% of the vote and the NDP's Sheila White finished third with 15%. In the Liberal nomination prior to the by-election, the party chose to use a clause in its constitution that declared other candidates invalid, effectively handing the nomination to Balkissoon. This excluded other contenders such as Raymond Cho who considered putting his name forward.
Balkissoon was easily re-elected in the 2007 provincial election, defeating his closest opponent by over 17,000 votes. He was also re-elected in 2011, and 2014.
During his time in office he has been appointed to a number of Parliamentary Assistant roles including Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services (2006-7, 2014); Minister of Health and Long-Term Care (2007-10); and Minister of Community and Social Services (2010-2013). In 2011 he was named as Deputy Speaker and Chair of the Committee of the Whole House.
On March 22, 2016 Balkissoon resigned from the legislature.

### Electoral record

2014 Ontario general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Bas Balkissoon | 16,134 | 38.86 | -3.01 |
| | New Democratic | Neethan Shan | 12,863 | 30.98 | -4.99 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Raymond Cho | 11,491 | 27.68 | +8.89 |
| | Green | George B. Singh | 569 | 1.37 | +0.12 |
| | None of the Above | Amir Khan | 461 | 1.11 | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 41,518 | 100.0 |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | Swing | +0.99 |
| Source: Elections Ontario |||||||
2011 Ontario general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Bas Balkissoon | 15,275 | 41.9 | -23.3 |
| | New Democratic | Neethan Shan | 13,130 | 36.0 | +22.5 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Ken Kim | 6,836 | 18.7 | +4.2 |
| | Libertarian | Felix Liao | 458 | 1.3 | -0.1 |
| | Green | George Singh | 448 | 1.2 | -2.5 |
| | Family Coalition | Raphael Rosch | 166 | 0.5 | -1.2 |
| | Freedom | Daniel Walker | 151 | 0.4 | +0.4 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 36,464 | 100.0 |
2007 Ontario general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| Liberal | Bas Balkissoon | 22,362 | 65.2 | +7.6 |
| Progressive Conservative | Horace Gooden | 4,962 | 14.5 | -10.4 |
| New Democratic | Sheila White | 4,646 | 13.5 | -1.4 |
| Green | Serge Abbat | 1,275 | 3.7 | +2.5 |
| Family Coalition | Joseph Carvalho | 581 | 1.7 | +1.1 |
| Libertarian | Alan Mercer | 492 | 1.4 | +0.8 |
Ontario by-election, November 24, 2005 :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | +/- |
| Liberal | Bas Balkissoon | 9,347 | 57.6 | -6.2 |
| Progressive Conservative | Cynthia Lai | 4,032 | 24.9 | -0.3 |
| New Democratic | Sheila White | 2,425 | 14.9 | +8.9 |
| Green | Steven Toman | 167 | 1.2 | -2.3 |
| Libertarian | Alan Mercer | 100 | 0.6 | - |
| Family Coalition | Rina Morra | 93 | 0.6 | -0.8 |
| Freedom | Wayne Simmons | 59 | 0.4 | - |