Peter Tabuns - Wikipedia

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Peter Tabuns MPP
Tabuns in 2009
Leader of the Official Opposition
In office June 28, 2022 – February 4, 2023
Preceded by	Andrea Horwath
Succeeded by	Marit Stiles
Interim Leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party
In office June 28, 2022 – February 4, 2023
Deputy	Sol Mamakwa Doly Begum
Preceded by	Andrea Horwath
Succeeded by	Marit Stiles
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament for Toronto—Danforth
Incumbent
Assumed office March 30, 2006
Preceded by	Marilyn Churley
Personal details
Born	Peter Charles Tabuns October 3, 1951 (age 73) London, Ontario, Canada
Political party	New Democratic
Spouse	Shawn Kerwin
Children	1
Residence(s)	Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Peter Charles Tabuns MPP (born October 3, 1951) is a Canadian politician who served as the interim leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party and the leader of the Official Opposition from 2022 to 2023. He is a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, first elected in a 2006 by-election to represent the riding of Toronto—Danforth.

In 2009, he entered the party leadership convention but lost to Andrea Horwath. Following Horwath's resignation as leader after the 2022 Ontario general election, the Ontario New Democratic Party caucus unanimously recommended Tabuns' selection as the Ontario NDP's interim leader. His appointment was confirmed by the party's provincial council on June 28, 2022.^[1][2] He served until the election of his successor, Marit Stiles, following the leadership election.

As of August 11, 2024, he serves as the Official Opposition critic for Energy and Climate Action.

Tabuns was born in London, Ontario, to Anton Tabuns (Latvian: Antons Tabūns), an auto mechanic, and his wife Sarah, who was born and raised in Liverpool, England. Anton was born and raised in Latvia, though he managed to leave his homeland after the Soviet occupation and immigrate to England. While working on a farm, fixing equipment, he met Sarah, and soon after marrying, the couple immigrated to Canada. Soon after, the family found residence with another recent immigrant. In addition to Peter, Anton and Sarah have two other children, Frank and Anna.^[3]

Tabuns attended York University, where he studied political science and was actively involved in York's student council. Tabuns was also president of Citizens for a Safe Environment, a Riverdale environmental group that lobbied the city to end garbage incineration at the Commissioners Street plant in the Port Lands. He became managing director of a housing co-op on Oak Street, and was also vice-chair of the Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto.^[4]

He lives with Shawn Kerwin, who is a theatre designer and professor at York University. They have a son, Anton, from Tabuns' previous relationship.

Tabuns was city councillor for Ward 8 - Riverdale - of the former City of Toronto from 1990 to 1997, representing part of the Toronto-Danforth riding he now represents provincially. He was a member of the Board of Health for seven years, and was chair from 1993 to 1997. In 1995 he moved to ban smoking in shopping mall food courts. A year later the city extended the ban to include bars and restaurants.^[5][6]

In 1996, he supported a boycott of Harvey's restaurants because its parent company Cara Operations had donated money to the Progressive Conservative Party for the previous three years. The Board of Health initially passed the motion 7-6 but later rescinded it following a storm of protest. Tabuns was unrepentant and said that corporations must be held accountable for supporting Ontario Premier Mike Harris. Tabuns said, "What Mike Harris has done is put greased skids under the economy of this city and pushed it downhill."^[7]

In 1997 the amalgamation of Metropolitan Toronto reduced the number of councillor positions. Tabuns was forced to compete with fellow NDP councillors Pam McConnell (who had previously represented Ward 7, adjacent to Tabuns' Ward 8) and Jack Layton (who had held a seat on Metro Council representing the same area as Wards 7 and 8) for one of two council positions returned by the east-end ward. A phantom candidate named "Larry Tabin" also entered the election. It has been alleged that Tabin was enlisted as a candidate by bar and restaurant owners seeking to defeat Tabuns over his anti-smoking initiative; despite his presence on the ballot, Tabin did not actually conduct any visible campaign. In the confusion, Tabin was able to draw enough votes away from Peter Tabuns to cost Tabuns the election.^[8] Tabuns came in third, with about 200 fewer votes than McConnell.^[9]

From 1999 to 2004, Tabuns was executive director of Greenpeace Canada. Under Tabuns' leadership, the organization advocated for environmental protection, including the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol. Tabuns also served as special advisor on climate change to Jack Layton from 2004 to 2005.

Tabuns was criticized by some members of Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) local 343 (now Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union 343) in 2002, when Greenpeace terminated its door-to-door fundraising efforts and transferred foot canvassers to telephone fundraising. No layoffs occurred; however, several workers disputed Greenpeace's assertions that the new positions were of "comparable salary and benefits", and held an information picket outside Greenpeace offices.^[10] According to the union, the "circumstances surrounding the closure of the door canvass were amicably resolved".^[11]

Tabuns ran as the NDP candidate in the riding of Beaches—East York during the 2004 federal election. He lost the election to Liberal incumbent Maria Minna by 7,738 votes.^[12]

On February 15, 2006, the Toronto—Danforth NDP riding association nominated Tabuns as the party's candidate in the provincial by-election, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of former NDP Member of Provincial Parliament Marilyn Churley. Churley resigned her provincial seat in order to run in the 2006 federal election as the NDP candidate for Beaches-East York.

Tabuns' opponents in the election were former broadcaster and Liberal candidate Ben Chin, Progressive Conservative candidate Georgina Blanas and Green Party candidate Paul Charbonneau. On March 30, 2006, Tabuns won the by-election with 47.8% support from voters.^[13]

Upon being sworn in as an MPP, NDP Leader Howard Hampton reorganized his shadow cabinet and gave the rookie member a long list of portfolios, including Transportation, Environment, Public Infrastructure Renewal, Greater Toronto Area, Culture, Tourism and Recreation, Citizenship and Immigration, and Multicultural Affairs.^[14]

In October 2006, Tabuns was voted Best MPP by Now Magazine readers, for his positions on climate change, the Portlands Energy Centre, and early childhood learning centres in his constituency.^[15] Tabuns has also been known for his stance on same-sex parental rights, anti-toxics legislation and recognition of foreign credentials. In the same month, Tabuns was recognized for tabling a motion to recognize June 22, 2006 as Chinese Canadian Head Tax Redress Day.^[16]

Tabuns was re-elected in the 2007, 2011, 2014, 2018 and 2022 provincial elections.^[17][18][19]

He served as the party's interim leader,^[2] after previously serving as the party's critic on energy and climate change^[20] and before that critic for Education and Energy issues.^[21]

Following the resignation of party leader Howard Hampton in June 2008, Peter Tabuns was mentioned in the press as a likely candidate in the emerging campaign for the leadership.^[22] On October 27, 2008, Tabuns officially launched his campaign for the leadership.^[23] The party's leadership convention was held in March 2009. Tabuns lost to Andrea Horwath by a margin of 60% to 40% on the third ballot following the defeat of contenders Michael Prue and Gilles Bisson in earlier rounds.

On June 13, 2022, the 31 members of the Ontario NDP caucus elected in the 2022 Ontario general election met and unanimously endorsed Peter Tabuns to serve as interim party leader pending the outcome of its forthcoming leadership election.^[24] Following this recommendation by caucus, his appointment was confirmed by the party's provincial council on June 28, 2022.^[2] Marit Stiles became the leader following a leadership election that was held on February 4, 2023.^[25]

v t e 2004 Canadian federal election: Beaches—East York
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Maria Minna	22,494	47.92	−4.9
	New Democratic	Peter Tabuns	15,156	32.29	+11.3
	Conservative	Nick Nikopoulos	6,603	14.06	−8.5
	Green	Peter Davison	2,127	4.53	+3.1
	Marijuana	Daniel Dufresne	365	0.77	−0.8
	Independent	Edward Slota	80	0.17
	Communist	Miguel Figueroa	62	0.13	−0.1
	Marxist–Leninist	Roger Carter	46	0.09	0.0
Total valid votes	46,933	100.00
Total rejected ballots	204	0.43
Turnout	47,137	64.02
Conservative vote is compared to the total of the Canadian Alliance vote and Progressive Conservative vote in 2000 election.

v t e 2025 Ontario general election: Toronto—Danforth
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Peter Tabuns	25,607	60.42	+5.03
	Liberal	Connor Taras	8,997	21.21	–1.15
	Progressive Conservative	Adam Ratkowski	6,172	14.55	+1.11
	Green	Orlando Wright	1,199	2.82	–3.26
	New Blue	Stephen Graham	424	1.00	–0.25
Total valid votes/expense limit	42,413	99.28	–0.13
Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots	306	0.72	+0.13
Turnout	42,719	50.10	+0.66
Eligible voters	85,269
	New Democratic hold	Swing	+3.09
Source: Elections Ontario[26]

v t e 2022 Ontario general election: Toronto—Danforth
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Peter Tabuns	22,890	55.39	−8.85	$112,989
	Liberal	Mary Fragedakis	9,240	22.36	+8.29	$77,403
	Progressive Conservative	Colleen McCleery	5,556	13.44	−2.41	$18,446
	Green	Marcelo Levy	2,513	6.08	+1.70	$4,531
	New Blue	Milton Kandias	515	1.25		$9,594
	Ontario Party	George Simopoulos	232	0.56		$0
	None of the Above	Christopher Brophy	201	0.49		$0
	Communist	Jennifer Moxon	177	0.43	+0.10	$0
Total valid votes/expense limit	41,324	99.41	+0.38	$117,719
Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots	244	0.59	−0.38
Turnout	41,568	49.44	−12.14
Eligible voters	83,888
	New Democratic hold	Swing	−8.57
Source(s) "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 2022. Archived from the original on May 18, 2023. "Statistical Summary by Electoral District" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 2022. Archived from the original on May 21, 2023.

2018 Ontario general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Peter Tabuns	32,938	64.25	+19.64
	Progressive Conservative	Patricia Kalligosfyris	8,131	15.86	+5.85
	Liberal	Li Koo	7,216	14.07	-23.15
	Green	Andrew Trotter	2,248	4.38	-1.09
	Libertarian	Paul Layton	341	0.67	-0.49
	Communist	Ivan Byard	167	0.33	-0.07
	Independent	John Kladitis	118	0.23
	Independent	John Richardson	110	0.21
Total valid votes	51,269	99.03	+0.30
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots	503	0.97	-0.30
Turnout	51,772	61.58	+6.28
Eligible voters	84,072
	New Democratic hold	Swing
Source: Elections Ontario[27]

2014 Ontario general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Peter Tabuns	19,190	44.61	-9.40
	Liberal	Rob Newman	15,983	37.16	+6.56
	Progressive Conservative	Naomi Solomon	4,304	10.01	+0.62
	Green	Rachel Power	2,351	5.47	+1.83
	Libertarian	Thomas Armstrong	501	1.16	-0.02
	Communist	Elizabeth Rowley	172	0.40
	Canadians' Choice	John Richardson	167	0.40	+0.19
	Vegan Environmental	Simon Luisi	149	0.35
	Freedom	Tristan Parlette	121	0.28	-0.01
	People's Political Party	Ali Azaroghli	79	0.18	-0.20
Total valid votes	43,017	98.73	-0.67
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots	553	1.27	+0.67
Total turnout	43,570	55.30	+6.00
Total electors	78,787
	New Democratic hold	Swing	-7.92
Source: Elections Ontario[28]

2011 Ontario general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Peter Tabuns	20,062	54.01	+8.16
	Liberal	Marisa Sterling	11,369	30.60	+1.40
	Progressive Conservative	Rita Jethi	3,488	9.39	-1.89
	Green	Tim Whalley	1,354	3.64	-7.51
	Libertarian	John Recker	440	1.18	+0.01
	People's Political Party	Kevin Clarke	143	0.38
	Independent	Neil Mercer	110	0.30
	Freedom	Stéphane Vera	107	0.29
	Independent	John Richardson	75	0.20
Total valid votes	37,148	99.40	+0.41
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots	226	0.60	-0.41
Turnout	37,374	49.30	-3.88
Eligible voters	75,815
	New Democratic hold	Swing	+3.38
Source: Elections Ontario[29]

2007 Ontario general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Peter Tabuns	17,975	45.85	-1.95
	Liberal	Joyce Rowlands	11,448	29.20	-9.72
	Progressive Conservative	Robert Bisbicis	4,423	11.28	+1.35
	Green	Patrick Kraemer	4,372	11.15	+9.02
	Libertarian	Mark Scott	460	1.17
	Family Coalition	Michael Kidd	273	0.70	+0.22
	Communist	Shona Bracken	253	0.65
Total valid votes	39,204	98.99	-0.59
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots	401	1.01	+0.59
Turnout	39,605	53.18	+13.29
Eligible voters	74,479
	New Democratic hold	Swing
Source: Elections Ontario

Ontario provincial by-election, March 26, 2006
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Peter Tabuns	13,054	48.26	+0.66
	Liberal	Ben Chin	10,636	38.93	+7.29
	Progressive Conservative	Georgina Blanas	2,740	10.03	-6.99
	Green	Paul Charbonneau	582	2.13	-1.4
	Family Coalition	Wictor Borkowski	104	0.38	-0.08
	Freedom	Franz Cauchi	93	0.34
	Independent	Carol Wielhorski	63	0.23
	Independent	Mehmet Ali Yagiz	50	0.18	-0.01
Total valid votes	27,322	99.58	+0.34
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots	115	0.42	-0.34
Turnout	27,437	39.89	-15.97
Eligible voters	68,782
	New Democratic hold	Swing
Source: Elections Ontario

1997 Toronto Municipal Election: Ward 25 – Don River

Council Candidate	Vote	%
	Jack Layton	15,045	29.97
	Pam McConnell	8,359	16.65
	Peter Tabuns	8,141	16.21
	Soo Wong	7,212	14.36
	Spiros Papathanasakis	6,590	13.13
	Terry Brackett	1,546	3.08
	Mike Armstrong	1,429	2.85
	Wendy Forrest	947	1.89
	Larry Tabin	939	1.87

1994 Toronto Municipal Election: Ward 8 – Riverdale

Council Candidate	Vote	%
	Peter Tabuns	6,134	46.61
	Arthur Potts	4,319	32.82
	Dan Salapoutis	1,991	15.13
	Michael Green	716	5.44

1991 Toronto Municipal Election: Ward 8 – Riverdale

Council Candidate	Vote	%
	Peter Tabuns	5,974	46.63
	John Roy	5,709	44.56
	Michael Green	1,129	8.81

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• Ontario Legislative Assembly parliamentary history