Lorenzo Berardinetti

Michelle Holland

​

​

(m. 2004;div. 2018)​

Lorenzo Berardinetti
Ontario MPP
In office October 2, 2003 –May 8, 2018
Residence(s)	Ajax, Ontario, Canada
Occupation	Lawyer
Portfolio	Deputy government whip (2003–2007)

Lorenzo Berardinetti (born 21 October 1961) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2003 to 2018 who represented the Toronto riding of Scarborough Southwest.

Background

Berardinetti was born in Scarborough, and is a lawyer by profession. He attended the University of Toronto and the University of Windsor Law School, and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1988. On October 25, 2010, Berardinetti's then-wife Michelle won election as a Toronto City Councillor. They married in 2004 and divorced in 2018. ^[1] Berardinetti's cousin is politician Michael Colle. As a child, he and Colle lived in the same house in downtown Toronto. They would later serve together as MPPs in Queen's Park. ^[1]

Politics

Municipal

Berardinetti was a councillor in the pre-amalgamation Scarborough Council from 1988 to 1996, and represented Ward 37 (Scarborough Centre) on the amalgamated Toronto City Council from 1997 to 2003. In 1997, he served as chair of Toronto's administration committee, which created the framework for a unified civic administration in the amalgamated city. Berardinetti was generally regarded as an ally of Toronto mayor Mel Lastman during his years on the Toronto council.

Provincial

In the provincial election of 2003, Berardinetti defeated incumbent Progressive Conservative Dan Newman by about 6,000 votes in Scarborough Southwest. ^[2] The Liberals won a majority government under Dalton McGuinty in this election, and Berardinetti was appointed the deputy government whip on 23 October 2003. ^[3] He was re-elected in 2007, ^[4] 2011, ^[5] and 2014. ^[6]

In 2004, he introduced a private member's bill, to outlaw what he called "gender-based pricing," whereby prices for equivalent or similar products and services, such as clothing, dry cleaning and haircuts, may vary between women and men. He contended women were charged much more for many products and services. The bill reached only second reading before it died on the order paper. ^[7]

During his time in the government, Berardinetti was a Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Labour (2010-2011) and PA to the Attorney General (2011–2018).

Berardinetti lost his seat in the 2018 provincial election, finishing third in the riding of Scarborough Southwest.

Later life

In 2022, Berardinetti attempted to return to city politics, running for a seat on Toronto city council in the ward of Scarborough Southwest. He finished fourth in the election.

Shortly after his municipal defeat he suffered a seizure and was in a coma for a month. He could not find work after his 2018 defeat and was unable to work in the aftermath of his coma and depleted his savings as a result. He moved in with his brother in Ajax, Ontario in 2022 but left in 2023 after an argument over money and has lived in homeless shelters since then. In the summer of 2024, his neurologist gave him permission to work again and he is trying to establish a law practice. ^[1] After news of his situation broke, he was able to raise over $25,000 from former colleagues across all parties, including his Progressive Conservative predecessor and New Democratic successor as MPP, Dan Newman and Doly Begum. It also led to suggestions that the MPP pension, removed in 1995 by Premier Mike Harris, be reinstated. ^[8]

Election results

2022 Toronto municipal election: Ward 20 Scarborough Southwest

Candidate	Vote [9]	%
Gary Crawford	8,216	35.07
Parthi Kandavel	6,936	29.61
Kevin Rupasinghe	3,208	13.69
Lorenzo Berardinetti	2,773	11.84
Malik Ahmad	709	3.03
Corey David	615	2.63
Sharif Ahmed	608	2.60
Philip Mills	363	1.55

v t e 2018 Ontario general election : Scarborough Southwest
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Doly Begum	19,835	45.66	+22.09
	Progressive Conservative	Gary Ellis	13,565	31.22	+10.25
	Liberal	Lorenzo Berardinetti	8,228	18.94	–30.99
	Green	David Del Grande	1,174	2.70	–1.37
	None of the Above	Allen Atkinson	222	0.51	N/A
	Libertarian	James Speirs	195	0.45	N/A
	Special Needs	Willie Little	160	0.37	N/A
	Trillium	Bobby Turley	64	0.15	N/A
Total valid votes			43,443	100.0
	New Democratic notional gain from Liberal		Swing		+5.92
Source: Elections Ontario [10]

2014 Ontario general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Lorenzo Berardinetti	18,420	50.22	+6.13
	New Democratic	Jessie Macaulay	8,674	23.65	-7.80
	Progressive Conservative	Nita Kang	7,570	20.64	-0.71
	Green	David Del Grande	1,492	4.07	+1.72
	Libertarian	Tyler Rose	328	0.89
	Independent	Jean-Baptiste Foaleng	192	0.52
Total valid votes			36,676	100.0
	Liberal hold		Swing		+6.96
Source: Elections Ontario [11]

2011 Ontario general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Lorenzo Berardinetti	14,585	44.09	-2.06
	New Democratic	Bruce Budd	10,404	31.45	+13.37
	Progressive Conservative	Mike Chopowick	7,061	21.35	-4.19
	Green	Robin McKim	777	2.35	-5.76
	Freedom	Caroline Blanco-Ruibal	250	0.75
Total valid votes			33,077	100.00
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			155	0.47
Turnout			33,232	47.80
Eligible voters			69,553
	Liberal hold		Swing		-7.72
Source: Elections Ontario [12]

2007 Ontario general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Lorenzo Berardinetti	15,113	46.15	-0.78
	Progressive Conservative	Gary Crawford	8,363	25.54	-6.17
	New Democratic	Jay Sarkar	5,920	18.08	+0.14
	Green	Stefan Dixon	2,655	8.11	+6.26
	Family Coalition	Wiktor Pawel Borkowski	398	1.22	-0.35
	Libertarian	George Dance	296	0.90
Total valid votes			32,745	100.00
Elections Ontario. [13]

2003 Ontario general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Lorenzo Berardinetti	17,501	46.93	+13.27
	Progressive Conservative	Dan Newman	11,826	31.71	-8.05
	New Democratic	Barbara Warner	6,688	17.94	-5.28
	Green	Andrew Strachan	689	1.85	+0.64
	Family Coalition	Ray Scott	586	1.57	+0.29
Total valid votes			37,290	100.00
Elections Ontario. [14]

2000 Toronto municipal election

Ward 37 - Scarborough Centre

• Lorenzo Berardinetti - 11,007
• Colleen Mills - 3,203

1997 Toronto municipal election

Ward 15 – Scarborough City Centre (2 elected)

Brad Duguid – 15686

Lorenzo Berardinetti – 14179

Paul Mushinski – 9141

Betty Hackett – 4579

Russell Worrick – 3882

Ron Hartung – 743

1994 Scarborough municipal election

Ward 4

• Lorenzo Berardinetti - 5,551
• Georges Legault Sr - 1,193

1991 Scarborough municipal election

Ward 4

• Lorenzo Berardinetti - 3,762
• Kurt Christensen - 2,104
• Costas Manios - 1,367
• Ruth A. Lunel - 357

1988 Scarborough municipal election

Ward 4

• Lorenzo Berardinetti - 2,453
• Kurt Christensen - 2,449
• Glynwilliams - 1,936
• Ward - 1,011
• McDowell - 318
• Georges Legault - 292

References

1. Cohen, Ben (December 26, 2024). "'I may end up in tears telling my story': How a former MPP and Toronto city councillor found himself living in a homeless shelter". Toronto Star. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
2. "Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. October 2, 2003. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
3. Rushowy, Kristin (October 4, 2007). "Scarborough Southwest; Liberal and Conservative contenders work toward making a difference in the lives of others". Toronto Star. p. Y10.
4. "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. October 10, 2007. p. 14 (xxiii). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 7, 2009. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
5. "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. October 6, 2011. p. 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 30, 2013. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
6. "General Election by District: Scarborough Southwest". Elections Ontario. June 12, 2014. Archived from the original on June 17, 2014.
7. "Bill 182, Gender-Based Price Discrimination Prohibition Act, 2005". Legislative Assembly of Ontario. April 8, 2005.
8. Cohen, Ben (January 2, 2025). "Politicians of all political stripes raise $25,000 to move former MPP Lorenzo Berardinetti out of homeless shelter". Toronto Star . Retrieved January 2, 2025.
9. "Declaration of Results" (PDF). City of Toronto. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
10. "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. p. 8. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
11. "General Election Results by District, 084 Scarborough Southwest". Elections Ontario. 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
12. "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 2011. p. 16. Retrieved 2012-09-28.
13. "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. p. 14. Retrieved 2012-09-28.
14. "Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. Retrieved 2012-09-28.

External links

• Ontario Legislative Assembly parliamentary history