Costas Menegakis

Costas Menegakis
Menegakis in 2019
Member of Parliament
for Richmond Hill
In office
May 30, 2011 – August 4, 2015
Preceded byBryon Wilfert
Succeeded byMajid Jowhari
Personal details
Born (1959-01-12) January 12, 1959 (age 65)
Montreal, Quebec[1]
Political partyConservative
SpouseGail[1]
ResidenceRichmond Hill, Ontario
ProfessionPolitician

Costas Menegakis (born in Montreal, Quebec) is a businessman, an entrepreneur and a former Canadian politician, who represented the federal electoral district of Richmond Hill from 2011 to 2015.[2]

Personal life

Menegakis is of Greek descent born to parents who immigrated to Canada in the 1950s. He was educated in Montreal, Quebec and is a graduate of Concordia University's Faculty of Commerce. He moved to Markham, Ontario in 1985 and currently resides in Richmond Hill, Ontario. Menegakis founded Tilwood Inc., a product fulfillment & logistics company in Richmond Hill in 1988. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Tilwood Inc. currently operating in Brampton, Ontario.

Menegakis has served in a volunteer capacity for the following non-profit organizations over the past 30 years that offer services to families and particularly to youth, seniors and persons with special needs. He has served on the Board of Directors of Accessible Media Inc., the Metropolitan Toronto Police Chief's Community Advisory Council, the Empire Club of Canada, the Greek Community of Toronto,[3] the Hellenic Home for the Aged and the World Council for Hellenes Abroad. Menegakis is a member of the Richmond Hill Board of Trade, the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 375, the Rotary Club of York and the Oak Ridges Lions Club.

Menegakis was awarded Her Majesty's Queen Elizabeth II Gold and Diamond Jubilee Medals and is a recipient of Rotary International's Paul Harris Fellow recognition.

Menegakis speaks three languages: English, French and Greek.[4][5]

Federal politics

Member of Parliament

In 2011 Costas Menegakis was elected to Canada's 41st Parliament as the Member of Parliament for Richmond Hill and in 2013, Menegakis was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.[6] During his time in office, Menegakis was a member on the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committees for Citizenship and Immigration, Procedures and House Affairs, Government Operations and Estimates and Official Languages.[7]

2015 federal election

In the 2015 federal election, Menegakis contested in the new Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill riding.[8] Menegakis was defeated by Liberal candidate Leona Alleslev by just 1,093 votes.[9]

2019 federal election

In February 2018, Menegakis was again elected as the Conservative candidate for Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, but later stepped down as the party's nominee when Alleslev crossed the floor to join the Conservative Party. Two weeks later, Menegakis was acclaimed as the Conservative candidate in his former riding of Richmond Hill.[10]

2021 federal election

Menagakis was nominated as the Conservative Candidate in Richmond Hill and was defeated in a rematch of the 2019 federal election by the incumbent MP, Majid Jowhari 47.7% to 38.8%.

45th federal election

In February 2024, Menegakis announced that he was seeking the Conservative Party nomination, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill for the upcoming federal election. He required a waiver from the party due to nomination rules which forbid candidates with two election losses from running again.

Initially, he was expected to compete against former National Post columnist Sabrina Maddeaux, Aurora town councillor Rachel Gilliland, former Richmond Hill city councillor Carmine Perrelli, and small business owner Yun Liu.[11] However, on May 9, Maddeaux announced that she was suspending her campaign due to concerns that the party was not taking her allegations of an anonymous email smear campaign against her seriously.[12][11] The Conservative Party stated that Maddeaux was the only candidate who had access to the Conservative membership list at the time of the alleged smear campaign.[13] Gilliland, whose nomination application was rejected by the party, raised concerns about the nomination process by stating that she had less support among the existing Conservative membership.[14][11]

Menegakis later defeated Perrelli to become the Conservative nominee.[15]

Electoral record

2021 Canadian federal election: Richmond Hill
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Majid Jowhari 21,784 47.71 +4.23 $100,540.48
Conservative Costas Menegakis 17,715 38.80 -4.26 $94,783.92
New Democratic Adam DeVita 3,995 8.75 -0.05 $3,001.25
People's Igor Tvorogov 1,363 2.98 +1.98 $1,539.41
Independent Charity DiPaola 619 1.36 – $31,134.43
Independent Angelika Keller 186 0.41 – $0.00
Total valid votes/Expense limit 45,662 – – $112,849.20
Total rejected ballots 543
Turnout 46,205 55.57 -4.33
Eligible voters 83,148
Liberal hold Swing +4.25
Source: Elections Canada[16][17]
2019 Canadian federal election: Richmond Hill
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Majid Jowhari 21,804 43.48 -3.42 $83,458.04
Conservative Costas Menegakis 21,592 43.06 -0.26 $108,773.79
New Democratic Adam DeVita 4,425 8.80 +0.76 $4,207.04
Green Ichha Kohli 1,695 3.40 +1.66 $0.00
People's Igor Tvorogov 507 1.0 none listed
Rhinoceros Otto Wevers 126 0.2 none listed
Total valid votes/expense limit 50,149 100.0
Total rejected ballots 584
Turnout 50,733 59.9
Eligible voters 84,660
Liberal hold Swing -1.58
Source: Elections Canada[18][19]
2015 Canadian federal election: Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Leona Alleslev 24,132 47.34 +19.47 $76,512.44
Conservative Costas Menegakis 23,039 45.19 −6.31 $150,877.75
New Democratic Brenda Power 2,912 5.71 −10.24 $1,887.13
Green Randi Ramdeen 654 1.28 −2.19 –
Animal Alliance Kyle Bowles 243 0.48 – $5,898.62
Total valid votes/expense limit 50,980 100.00   $212,912.36
Total rejected ballots 204 0.40 –
Turnout 51,184 64.91 –
Eligible voters 78,848
Liberal notional gain from Conservative Swing +12.89
Source: Elections Canada[20][21][22]
2011 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Conservative Costas Menegakis 22,078 44.14 +8.45
Liberal Bryon Wilfert 17,671 35.33 -11.66
New Democratic Adam DeVita 8,433 16.86 +6.97
Green Cameron Hastings 1,832 3.66 -3.75
Total valid votes/Expense limit 50,014 100.00
Total rejected ballots 221 0.44 -0.05
Turnout 50,235 55.96 +3.91
Eligible voters 89,765 – –

References

  1. ^ a b "Federal Conservatives select Menegakis as candidate for new Aurora riding". The Auroran. March 26, 2014. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  2. ^ "Costas Menegakis". Parliament of Canada. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
  3. ^ Woods, Allan (April 13, 2011). "Candidate blasted Conservatives — before running for them". Toronto Star. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
  4. ^ "Richmond Hill Conservative Candidate Costas Menegakis".
  5. ^ "Candidate Profile Costas Menegakis".
  6. ^ "Costas Menegakis | Prime Minister of Canada". Archived from the original on August 10, 2014. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
  7. ^ "Costas Menegakis - Overview - House of Commons of Canada". ourcommons.ca. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  8. ^ Beck, Marney (March 23, 2014). "Menegakis acclaimed as Conservative candidate in new riding". YorkRegion.com. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  9. ^ "Federal Election 2015: Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill riding results - Toronto | Globalnews.ca". globalnews.ca. September 8, 2015. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  10. ^ Pinkerton, Charlie (November 15, 2018). "Ex-MP bumped to riding next door after Alleslev's floor-crossing". iPolitics. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  11. ^ a b c Sarkonak, Jamie (May 27, 2024). "Jamie Sarkonak: In a messy Conservative nomination race, no one wins". National Post.
  12. ^ "Conservative nomination candidate halts campaign amid corruption claims". NewmarketToday.ca. May 20, 2024. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
  13. ^ Fisher, Sarah. Twitter https://twitter.com/SarahFischer__/status/1788602910529466486. Retrieved October 10, 2024. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. ^ Adler, Mike (May 30, 2024). "'Corrupted process': Candidates out of the Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill Conservative nomination race cry foul". YorkRegion.com. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
  15. ^ "Former Tory MP Costas Menegakis secures Conservative nod in GTA riding". www.ipolitics.ca. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
  16. ^ "List of confirmed candidates – September 20, 2021 Federal Election". Elections Canada. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  17. ^ "2021 Election Results by Electoral District". Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  18. ^ "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  19. ^ "Election Night Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
  20. ^ Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, 30 September 2015
  21. ^ Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates Archived 2015-08-15 at the Wayback Machine
  22. ^ "Election Night Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 20, 2015.