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Belinda Karahalios

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Belinda Karahalios
Karahalios in July 2018
President of the New Blue Party of Ontario
Incumbent
Assumed office
October 12, 2020
LeaderJim Karahalios
Preceded byPosition established
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament
for Cambridge
In office
June 7, 2018 – May 3, 2022
Preceded byKathryn McGarry
Succeeded byBrian Riddell
Personal details
BornMississauga, Ontario, Canada
Political partyNew Blue
Other political
affiliations		Progressive Conservative (2018–2020)
SpouseJim Karahalios
Children1
ResidenceCambridge, Ontario
Occupation
  • Politician
  • healthcare consultant
PortfolioParliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services (2018–2019), Parliamentary Assistant to the Solicitor General (2019–2020)
WebsiteParty profile

Belinda Carmen Karahalios is a Canadian politician who served as the member of Provincial Parliament for the riding of Cambridge in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2018 to 2022.

Karahalios was originally elected in the 2018 provincial election as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC). She was ejected from the party caucus in July 2020 for voting against Bill 195, which would allow the provincial government to extend emergency powers for up to two years without consulting the legislature. She finished her term as a member of the New Blue Party of Ontario, which is led by her husband, Jim Karahalios.[1] Karahalios was unseated by the Progressive Conservative candidate in the 2022 Ontario general election.

Political career

[edit]

Karahalios won in the riding of Cambridge in the Ontario general election in 2018.[2] On June 29, 2018, she was appointed as the parliamentary assistant to Lisa MacLeod, the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services.[3] Following a cabinet shuffle on June 20, 2019, she was appointed as the parliamentary assistant to Sylvia Jones, the Solicitor General.[4]

On November 26, 2019, Karahalios tabled Bill 150, the Ensuring Transparency and Integrity in Political Party Elections Act, 2019.[5] This legislation would make it an offence for anyone in Ontario to commit voter fraud in an internal party election.[6] The grounds for introducing the bill was internal party corruption, alleged by Jim Karahalios,[7] Doug Ford,[8] Vikram Singh,[9] and others[10] in the 2018 Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership election and in the same party's November 2018 convention. The bill passed second reading unanimously, despite initial indications that the Ontario PC caucus would vote against it,[11] and it is now awaiting its third reading.[12]

Karahalios was ejected from the Progressive Conservative caucus by party leader and premier Doug Ford after voting against Bill 195, the Reopening Ontario Act, which would expand the government's emergency authority during the COVID-19 pandemic. Karahalios voted against the legislation, calling it an "unnecessary overreach on our parliamentary democracy."[13]

Karahalios co-founded the New Blue Party of Ontario alongside her husband, Jim Karahalios.

In December 2021, Karahalios was ejected from the Legislative Assembly for failing to present a proof of vaccination. Karahalios presented a negative COVID-19 antigen test, but it was rejected because it had occurred within 90 days of her last positive test.[14]

Karahalios was originally a supporter of Bill 184, which amended the Residential Tenancies Act to remove rent control from any rental units first occupied after November 15, 2018.[15] In a 2020 Committee on Social Policy hearing, during which community organizers and certain MPPs who opposed the bill spoke about the bill's negative impact on the social stability of communities in Toronto (including such issues as bad faith evictions leading to homelessness), Karahalios expressed concern about the "vilification" of landlords, and noted that "We hear stories from both tenants and landlords, and yes, I’ve come across bad tenants and bad landlords. Not all landlords are bad and not all tenants are bad." After other members of the Committee and the community who were present at the meeting described the impact of rent decontrol leading to profit-motivated evictions by the large corporations which provide the majority of rental housing in Ontario,[16] Karahalios reiterated her concern about "small [landlords] who ... wound up with some tenants they’re not having a great experience with."[17]

Karahalios was unseated by the Progressive Conservative candidate in the 2022 Ontario general election. She ran for Cambridge City Council in the 2022 municipal elections, but lost.

Personal life

[edit]

Belinda Karahalios is married to Jim Karahalios, a corporate lawyer and founder of activist groups "Axe The Carbon Tax" and "Take Back Our PC Party", who was disqualified from running in the 2020 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election.[2] She is of mixed Trinidadian and Portuguese descent.[18]

Election results

[edit]
2022 Ontario general election: Cambridge
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Progressive Conservative Brian Riddell 14,590 37.03 +0.06 $84,737
New Democratic Marjorie Knight 8,745 22.19 −10.30 $54,806
Liberal Surekha Shenoy 8,155 20.70 −2.55 $77,446
New Blue Belinda Karahalios 4,374 11.10   $98,338
Green Carla Johnson 3,537 8.98 +2.71 $14,902
Total valid votes/expense limit 39,401 99.52 +0.81 $128,747
Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots 190 0.48 -0.81
Turnout 39,591 43.22 -11.95
Eligible voters 91,954
Progressive Conservative gain from New Blue Swing +5.18
Source(s)
  • "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 2022. Archived from the original on 2023-05-18.
  • "Statistical Summary by Electoral District" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 2022. Archived from the original on 2023-05-21.
2018 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Belinda Karahalios 17,793 36.97% +4.41
New Democratic Marjorie Knight 15,639 32.49% +10.88
Liberal Kathryn McGarry 11,191 23.25% -15.67
Green Michele Braniff 3,018 6.27% +0.61
Libertarian Allan Dettweiler 490 1.02% -0.24
Total valid votes 100.0  
Progressive Conservative gain from Liberal Swing -
Source: Elections Ontario[19]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Sharkie, Jackey (21 July 2020). "Cambridge MPP Belinda Karahalios booted from PC caucus after voting against COVID-19 emergency bill". CBC News. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  2. ^ a b "PC Belinda Karahalios wins in Cambridge riding". CBC Kitchener-Waterloo, June 7, 2018.
  3. ^ "Doug Ford names his first cabinet: Ford's team is styled as the 'first-ever government for the people'". Maclean's. June 29, 2018. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
  4. ^ "Queen's Park Highlights - Summer Update". July 24, 2019. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
  5. ^ "Bill 150, Ensuring Transparency and Integrity in Political Party Elections Act, 2019". Retrieved March 21, 2020.
  6. ^ "Our Record". Retrieved March 21, 2020.
  7. ^ Crawley, Mike (October 18, 2019). "Ontario PCs face lawsuit over election of party president". CBC News. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
  8. ^ Blackwell, Tom (March 8, 2018). "'Corrupt' Ontario PC leadership vote rigged in favour of Christine Elliott, Doug Ford charges". National Post. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
  9. ^ Benzie, Robert (January 24, 2018). "Spurned PC candidate ends civil suit, but criminal probe continues in Hamilton riding". Toronto Star. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
  10. ^ Craggs, Samantha (May 17, 2017). "Hamilton riding PC candidates allege voter fraud, ballot box stuffing". CBC News. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
  11. ^ D'Mello, Colin (November 27, 2019). "Ontario PC government will not support MPP's election transparency bill". Retrieved March 21, 2020.
  12. ^ "Bill 150, Ensuring Transparency and Integrity in Political Party Elections Act, 2019". Retrieved March 21, 2020.
  13. ^ Benzie, Robert (July 21, 2020). "Doug Ford ejects Cambridge MPP from PC caucus for voting against COVID-19 bill". Toronto Star. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  14. ^ Nielsen, Kevin (December 8, 2021). "Cambridge MPP Belinda Karahalios ejected from Ontario legislature | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  15. ^ "Protecting Tenants and Strengthening Community Housing Act, 2020, S.O. 2020, c. 16 - Bill 184". E-Laws. Queen's Printer for Ontario. 24 July 2014. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  16. ^ Tranjan, Ricardo. "Struggling homeowners not your typical landlord". The Monitor. Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  17. ^ "Official Report of Debates (Hansard), Standing Committee on Social Policy: Wednesday 24 June 2020". Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
  18. ^ Thompson, Catherine (June 8, 2018). "Political neophyte ready for learning curve as new Cambridge MPP". The Record. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
  19. ^ "Candidate Search". Elections Ontario. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
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