Battle between Ontario Liberals, NDP heats up in battleground Toronto-St. Pauls [Video]

The few square kilometres of Toronto-St. Paul’s are home to several new-build condominiums, trendy bistros, high-end hair salons and gated houses with manicured lawns.

The area is also the site of a food bank that has seen record attendance since the COVID-19 pandemic, several tenant advocacy organizations and a long-delayed Eglinton LRT project in its north end.

The provincial riding of more than 116,000 residents is representative of the city’s diversity at a cultural, economic and social level. It’s also symbolic of fierce competition between the NDP and Liberals as voters head to the polls on Feb. 27 and could show how long-term incumbency influences voter decisions, one expert says.

For nearly two decades, the riding was considered a Liberal stronghold. That changed in 2018, when New Democrat Jill Andrew won with a roughly 2.5 per cent lead, flipping the seat from red to orange and holding on to it ever since.

“The question is whether this is …