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Yasmin Ratansi

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Yasmin Ratansi
Member of Parliament
for Don Valley East
In office
October 19, 2015 – September 20, 2021
Preceded byJoe Daniel
Succeeded byMichael Coteau
In office
June 28, 2004 – May 2, 2011
Preceded byDavid Collenette
Succeeded byJoe Daniel
Personal details
Born (1951-01-04) January 4, 1951 (age 73)
Dar es Salaam, Tanganyika Territory
NationalityCanadian
Political partyIndependent
Other political
affiliations		Liberal (until 2020)
Residence(s)Maryvale, Scarborough, Toronto[1]
ProfessionAccountant, management consultant

Yasmin Ratansi (born January 4, 1951) is a former Canadian politician who represented the Toronto-area riding of Don Valley East in the House of Commons from 2004 to 2011 and again from 2015 to 2021. She was elected as a Liberal in the 2004 federal election and served until her defeat in 2011. She was re-elected in 2015 and 2019. Ratansi left the Liberal Party on November 9, 2020, following a CBC News investigation that revealed she had violated parliamentary rules by using public funds to employ her sister in her constituency office. Ratansi sat as an independent for the remainder of her term and did not seek re-election in the 2021 election.

Ratansi is an Ismaili Muslim and was the first Muslim woman elected to Parliament.[citation needed]

Before politics

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Born in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Ratansi immigrated to Canada in 1974.[2] She worked as a management consultant. She is a Certified General Accountant (CGA), a member of the Certified General Accountants of Ontario, and a fellow of the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada. In 2009, Ratansi was bestowed with the John Leslie Award by CGA Canada, given in recognition of CGAs "who have achieved a high and favourable profile in the Canadian community."[3]

Politics

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In 1979 Ratansi joined the Liberal Party of Canada and campaigned for David Collenette.[2] Later she was the federal Liberal candidate for Don Valley East in the 1988 federal election. In the nomination for the Liberal candidacy leading up to the vote, rival Mel Catre complained that voting irregularities allowed Ratansi supporters to vote freely while his supporters were barred from voting. A subsequent investigation failed to prove these allegations.[4] Ratansi finished in second place 2,838 votes behind the Conservative winner Alan Redway. She served on the party's federal campaign committee in 1992 and was treasurer of the party's Ontario wing from 1993 to 1997. In 1998, she served as one of three co-chairs on the campaign to elect Mel Lastman as mayor of the newly amalgamated city of Toronto.[5]

In 2004 she ran again facing former-member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) David Johnson. During her campaign, she spoke about the issue of immigrant underemployment. She also supported a publicly run health system. She won the riding by more than 10,000 votes.[2]

During her tenure in Parliament, Ratansi sat through three parliamentary sessions. During this time she acted as the Official Opposition's critic for National Revenue and as critic for the Canada Revenue Agency. She also chaired a number of committees including the Status of Women Committee, and the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates.[6] She has also served as Liberal caucus treasurer.

Constituency office controversy and departure from the Liberal Party

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On November 9, 2020, a CBC News investigation revealed that from 2005 to 2011, and again from 2017 to 2020, Ratansi used public funds to employ her sister, Zeenat Khatri, as a constituency assistant in her constituency office. This was a direct violation of parliamentary rules, which were amended in 2012 to add siblings to the list of individuals forbidden from being hired (previously only parents, spouses, and children were listed).[7]

Speaking with at least six former staffers, CBC News discovered both Ratansi and Khatri took various steps to conceal their relationship in the workplace.[7] Staffers who were informed or became aware were pressured to uphold the ruse and "be complicit in unethical behaviour" while others were reportedly kept in the dark.

On November 9, 2020, 30 hours after being presented with the findings of the investigation, Ratansi announced on Facebook that she was leaving the Liberal Party and would continue to sit as an Independent while "awaiting guidance" from the Ethics Commissioner. Ratansi wrote that she "made an error in judgment by employing [her] sister in [her] constituency office, and [has] remedied the situation, but this [did] not excuse the error [she] made."[7]

Liberal Party leader and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned her actions as "deeply [disappointing]" and "unacceptable" while committing to an investigation by parliamentary administration officials.[8]

In March 2021, the Board of Internal Economy ordered Ratansi to pay back $9,391 for employing her sister.[9] At the time, the Ethics Commissioner was still investigating her for allegedly employing her sister, verbally harassing staffers, and uttering racist remarks about certain minorities.[9] She did not seek re-election in the 2021 federal election.

In April 2021, a former employee of her constituency office sued her for verbal abuse.[10]

Electoral record

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2019 Canadian federal election: Don Valley East
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Yasmin Ratansi 25,295 59.81 +1.98 $74,656.45
Conservative Michael Ma 10,115 23.92 -5.31 $66,318.23
New Democratic Nicholas Thompson 4,647 10.99 +0.63 none listed
Green Dan Turcotte 1,675 3.96 +1.37 $3,743.20
People's John P. Hendry 562 1.33 - none listed
Total valid votes/expense limit 42,294 99.98
Total rejected ballots 438 1.02 +0.41
Turnout 42,732 64.23 -1.31
Eligible voters 66,530
Liberal hold Swing +3.65
Source: Elections Canada[11][12]
2015 Canadian federal election: Don Valley East
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Yasmin Ratansi 24,048 57.82 +19.43 $109,579.16
Conservative Maureen Harquail 12,155 29.23 -7.16 $127,111.51
New Democratic Khalid Ahmed 4,307 10.36 -11.52 $9,377.74
Green Laura Elizabeth Sanderson 1,078 2.59 -0.21 –
Total valid votes/expense limit 41,588 99.39   $197,799.11
Total rejected ballots 257 0.61
Turnout 41,845 65.54
Eligible voters 63,845
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +13.30
Source: Elections Canada[13][14][15]


2011 Canadian federal election: Don Valley East
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Conservative Joe Daniel 14,422 36.78 +5.78
Liberal Yasmin Ratansi 13,552 34.56 -13.51
New Democratic Mary Trapani Hynes 9,878 25.19 +11.87
Green Akil Sadikali 1,114 2.84 -4.05
Christian Heritage Ryan Kidd 246 0.63 -0.07
Total valid votes 39,212 100.00
Total rejected ballots 218 0.55 –
Turnout 39,430 57.24 –
Eligible voters 68,890 – –
2008 Canadian federal election: Don Valley East
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Yasmin Ratansi 18,264 48.07 -5.92 $67,602
Conservative Eugene McDermott 11,777 31.00 +1.84 $77,618
New Democratic Mary Trapani Hynes 5,062 13.32 +0.43 $5,282
Green Wayne Clements 2,618 6.89 +2.95 $4,032
Christian Heritage Alex Kovalenko 266 0.70 – $163
Total valid votes/expense limit 37,987 100.00   $81,387
  Liberal hold Swing -3.88
2006 Canadian federal election: Don Valley East
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Yasmin Ratansi 23,441 53.99 -0.6
Conservative Eugene McDermott 12,661 29.16 +1.2
New Democratic Richard Alan Hennick 5,597 12.89 -0.3
Green Wayne Clements 1,714 3.94 +1.0
Total valid votes 43,413 100.00
2004 Canadian federal election: Don Valley East
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Yasmin Ratansi 21,864 54.6 -12.0
Conservative David Johnson 11,206 28.0 +7.7
New Democratic Valerie Ann Mah 5,287 13.2 +7.4
Green Dan King 1,172 2.9
Christian Heritage Ryan Kidd 351 0.8 +0.3
Communist Christopher Black 149 0.4
Total valid votes 40,029 100.0

Note: Conservative vote is compared to the total of the Canadian Alliance vote and Progressive Conservative vote in 2000 election.

1988 Canadian federal election: Don Valley East
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Alan Redway 18,719 44.7 -9.7
Liberal Yasmin Ratansi 15,881 37.9 +3.9
New Democratic Brant Loper 6,310 15.1 +4.4
Libertarian Mark Meschino 538 1.3 +0.6
Independent David Smith 271 0.6
Communist Maria Kontopidis 155 0.4
Total valid votes 41,874 100.0

References

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  1. ^ "Search For Contributions". Elections Canada. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Nicole MacIntyre. Tories' Johnson returns to fray; Former education minister lost seat in 1999 protest vote Immigrant underemployment, high rents issues in riding. Toronto Star. may 24, 2004. pg. B1
  3. ^ CGA Canada, John Leslie Award
  4. ^ Liberal loser in Don Valley East complains backers couldn't vote. Toronto Star. July 11, 1988. Pg. A4
  5. ^ William Walker. Colle defends mega flip-flop Harsh critic of unified city now on Lastman campaign team. Toronto Star, August 22, 1997. Pg. A5
  6. ^ Parliament of Canada: Yasmin Ratansi, Federal experience. Last accessed March 12, 2010.
  7. ^ a b c Burke, Ashley (November 9, 2020). "Liberal MP out of caucus after employing sister for years using public funds". CBC News. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  8. ^ Connolly, Amanda (November 10, 2020). "Trudeau says it was 'unacceptable' for Toronto MP to hire sister with public funds". Global News. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  9. ^ a b Rana, Abbas (March 17, 2021). "Ontario MPP Coteau 'very open' to seeking federal Liberal nomination in Don Valley East". Hill Times. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  10. ^ Burke, Ashley; Everson, Kristen (April 14, 2021). "Former employee sues MP Yasmin Ratansi, claims she fired him for attending abortion". CBC.ca. Archived from the original on July 10, 2023. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  11. ^ "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  12. ^ "Official Voting Results -". Elections Canada. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  13. ^ Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Don Valley East, 30 September 2015
  14. ^ Elections Canada – Final Candidates Election Expenses Limits
  15. ^ Elections Canada – Forty-Second General Election 2015 - Poll-by-poll results
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