Who is Doly Begum, the Ontario NDP MPP poached to run for the Liberals in a federal byelection?
Before being announced as the Liberal candidate to run in a federal byelection for the suddenly vacant Scarborough Southwest riding, Ontario NDP member of provincial parliament Doly Begum had been criticized for her position on the Israel-Hamas conflict, a war in which she accuses the Jewish state of committing “genocide.”
In a statement from the Liberals , Begum said she chose to vie for a position in Prime Minister Mark Carney’s caucus because Canada, “at this crucial moment,” requires collaboration and unity to ensure its prosperity.
“I have been inspired by our Prime Minister’s vision for Canada; one rooted in resilience, inclusion and responsibility towards our nation,” she wrote on Instagram.
National Post has contacted Begum for additional comment.
Here’s what you need to know about the three-time MPP recruited to retain the Toronto-area seat long held by Bill Blair, who this week resigned to become Canada’s new high commissioner to the United Kingdom.
Who is Doly Begum?
Begum, 37, was born in the Moulvibazar district of Bangladesh and immigrated to Canada with her parents and younger brother while still an infant, according to the Daily Star in Bangladesh.
After graduating with a political science degree from the University of Toronto, she obtained a masters in development, administration and planning from University College London in the U.K.
Back in Canada and before entering politics, she was co-chair of the Scarborough Health Coalition, vice-chair of the Warden Woods Community Centre in Toronto, and a research analyst for the Society of Energy Professionals. Her profile rose when she co-chaired Keep Hydro Public, an Ontario-wide campaign to keep the utility ownership public and maintain affordable electricity.
Begum was married to Rizuan Rahman until his cancer-related death in September 2024. The passing of the lawyer and respected figure in the city’s Bangladeshi Canadian community garnered an expression of condolences from Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow.
What is Doly Begum’s political history?
In 2018, a 29-year-old Begum won the nomination for Scarbourgh Southwest and became the first Canadian citizen of Bangladeshi origin to win a provincial election that June, dethroning 15-year Liberal incumbent Lorenzo Berardinetti and holding off Progressive Conservative challenger Gary Ellis, a retired police officer.
Doly’s election campaign tagline was, “Elect me, I won’t disappoint you,” according to the Star.
After she was re-elected in July 2022, interim leader Peter Tabuns made her and Kiiwetinoong MPP Sol Mamakwa deputy party leaders, a role both have maintained under current leader Marit Stiles.
“This is an immense privilege and responsibility that I don’t take lightly,” said Begum in a post pinned to the top of her X profile.
At the time of her departure, she was serving as shadow minister for public transit, equity and anti-racism. She’s previously been the Official Opposition critic for citizenship, foreign credentials and immigration services, and the critic for immigration services and international credentials.
What has Doly Begum said about the Israel-Hamas war?
In October 2023, not long after Hamas’s terrorist attack on Israel, Begum defended Stiles’ decision to remove Sarah Jama from caucus after the Hamilton Centre MPP issued a statement on the conflict in which she described Gaza living conditions as “apartheid.”
“I don’t think it is helpful for any member of our caucus to act unilaterally,” Begum told the Toronto Star , adding that Stiles has to be able to trust all caucus members to work together.
“Politics is a team sport.”
A few weeks later, she issued her own call for a ceasefire, stating in a letter to then-prime minister Justin Trudeau that Israel’s actions “have been carried out with unwavering support from the Canadian government.”
I have written an urgent letter to the Prime Minister in support of @NDP’s demand for an immediate ceasefire as violence continues to unfold in Gaza #CeasefireNow pic.twitter.com/pKXIsQgyW8
— Doly Begum (@DolyBegum) November 3, 2023
(2/2) pic.twitter.com/5CyOkkJaO4
— Doly Begum (@DolyBegum) October 25, 2023
When Canada joined the U.K. and Australia in officially recognizing the “State of Palestine” last September, Begum remarked on Instagram that “recognition alone is empty” and said Canada has a “direct role” in what’s happening in Gaza by selling arms to Israel.
“While we acknowledge this announcement, we cannot ignore the reality: Canada remains complicit in the ongoing genocide in Gaza and has failed to uphold the right of Palestinians to true self-determination and sovereignty,” she wrote .
Inside the Ontario legislature at Queen’s Park about two months later, Begum once again levelled accusations at the federal government.
“Netanyahu’s far-right coalition — with the help of others, including Canada — continues its military campaign, and what we’re witnessing right now is not peace, Speaker, it’s devastation,” she said in November .
“How many more children — how many more lives — must die before the Canadian government finds its moral backbone, the courage and conviction to stop sending arms and enabling this genocide?”
Canada has maintained that it has ceased allowing shipments of armaments to Israel since January 2024, despite reports suggesting otherwise.
What are people saying about Doly Begum running for the Liberals?
Those recent comments on Canada and Israel were highlighted by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs in a statement on Tuesday.
“Prime Minister Carney has chosen to nominate a candidate who has called out his own government for lacking a ‘moral backbone,’ and who has openly aligned herself with Fred Hahn, who has a long track-record of hate speech and antisemitism,” it wrote on X.
“As Canadians face unprecedented levels of hate, elected officials have a responsibility to confront extremism, not elevate it.”
Prime Minister Carney has chosen to nominate a candidate who has called out his own government for lacking a "moral backbone," and who has openly aligned herself with Fred Hahn, who has a long track-record of hate-speech and antisemitism.
— CIJA (@CIJAinfo) February 3, 2026
As Canadians face unprecedented levels…
Hahn is the former CUPE national vice-president who, in 2024, came under fire after he posted a digitally edited video of a Jewish diver competing at the Paris Olympics and transforming into an exploding bomb as he heads for the water.
Hahn publicly apologized and removed the video, but he ignored the union board’s demands for him to resign. He failed to be re-elected as the national union’s vice-president for Ontario last October, but he remains president of CUPE Ontario, the union’s separate “political wing.”
Hahn had previously apologized for celebrating Palestinian resistance in a statement made the day after Hamas’s terrorist attack on Israel.
Evidently, Hahn brought the union’s support to a community outreach event to help Begum get re-elected in 2022.
“Are you coming to Scarborough Southwest? Fred Hahn is heading back to help Doly Begum again,” reads a post from CUPE Ontario.
CIJA also shared a link to Begum’s Instagram photo from a 2025 campaign event that shows Hahn, sporting a bright orange sweater, front and centre.
As for her political peers, Stiles offered only a brief statement thanking Begum but added special thanks to “her constituency staff who, as New Democrats, continue their excellent work serving constituents.”
Interim federal NDP Leader Don Davies offered sharper criticism.
“When Canadians see politicians betray the values and policies that they claim to believe in, I think it damages our democracy and it breeds cynicism in our politics,” Davies told reporters outside the House of Commons.
“I’ll leave it to Ms. Begum to explain to the people of Scarborough Southwest why she’s abandoning the progressive policies she claimed to believe in to run for a party that is clearly governing like a conservative party.”
Alexandre Boulerice, the NDP’s only Quebec MP, said he was disappointed in Begum’s decision.
“If you’re committed to a political party and a movement, you should stick with it,” he said.
Carney has yet to call for a byelection in Scarborough West, nor for the riding of University-Rosedale, which Chrystia Freeland resigned earlier this month. Last week, the Liberals announced family physician Danielle Martin will be their candidate in that contest.
Meanwhile, Liberal MP Nate Erskine-Smith announced his intention to run provincially in the riding vacated by Begum.
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