Yasir Naqvi enters Ontario Liberal leadership race
Yasir Naqvi has entered the race for the Ontario Liberal leadership.
The Ottawa Centre Liberal MP formally launched his leadership campaign at St. Anthony's Banquet Hall in Ottawa Saturday morning. He also says he will make a stop in Belleville before an event in Mississauga Saturday evening.
Naqvi, who previously served as Ottawa Centre Liberal MPP, submitted his paperwork to enter the leadership race on Friday.
"Over the past few months, I’ve been asked again and again: why am I doing this? It's the same reason I started knocking on doors in Ontario 15 years ago and haven’t stopped since. Because the status quo isn’t good enough," Naqvi said in a statement on Saturday.
"I see the promise of Ontario slipping away. And Doug Ford has broken that promise."
Naqvi says his vision for the Ontario Liberal Party is to create a "strong" party, with a "big tent and a focus on its members not insiders."
"My mission is to transform our party, in every single riding, all 124. So we can stop Ford in 2026 — and get back to the promise of Ontario," he said.
The Ontario Liberal Party will announce a new leader on Dec. 2 to replace Steven Del Duca, who resigned after last June's provincial election.
Naqvi said in January he was considering running for the Ontario Liberal leadership.
"As you know, we have had two very devastating election results and there is a strong desire to have a strong, experienced leader who can help rebuild the party," Naqvi said in January.
In March, he stepped down as Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the King's Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness.
Naqvi represented the riding of Ottawa Centre as an MPP from 2007 to 2018, before losing to NDP MPP Joel Harden in the 2018 provincial election. He served as attorney general, government house leader, minister of community safety and correctional services and minister of labour when the Liberal Party formed government.
He was elected Ottawa Centre MP in 2021, succeeding former cabinet minister Catherine McKenna.
Two other candidates are registered to run for the Ontario Liberal leadership – Kingston and the Islands MPP Ted Hsu and Liberal MP Nate Erskine-Smith.
Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie has set up a leadership exploratory committee ahead of a possible run for the Liberal leadership.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.