The Ontario Liberals are nominating a former financial services executive as their next candidate for the riding currently held by Kathleen Wynne, but the Wednesday morning announcement saw Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca defending his decision to declare Don Valley West a "women only" riding.

Stephanie Bowman, who up until recently served on the Bank of Canada’s board of directors, is set to represent the party in the next provincial election. Wynne, who has held the riding since 2003, announced last fall that she would not be seeking re-election.

"I couldn't be happier," said Del Duca, praising Bowman for a "long and distinguished career in finance."

"She has the skills and the experience, the knowledge, the know-how, and the temperament and personality to make sure that those hard-working families in Don Valley West have the kind of representation at Queen's Park that they deserve, the kind of representation that they've had now for nearly two decades with Kathleen Wynne," he said.

"When I think about the economy that Ontarians will want to see built on the other side of this pandemic, an economy where yes, we are productive, where yes, we create incredible wealth and prosperity but that wealth and prosperity is broadly and fairly shared ... I'm really thrilled that Stephanie has stepped forward ... she's already showing and making her mark," Del Duca said.

Bowman, who has spent more than 25 years as a financial services executive, management consultant and board member, called Don Valley West her "home" and said it's where she raised her children.

"I'm proud to stand up and try to bring innovative, creative solutions to the issues and to get us back on the right track," said Bowman, noting her priorities include education investments, helping people "maximize their potential" and building a "greener economy."

But asked about allegations that the party cast aside individuals from underrepresented communities wanting to run under the Liberal banner in favour of Bowman, Del Duca insisted the process was "democratic."

"I know that from time-to-time it can be a bit of a tough process and I don't think I've ever been involved in a nomination process where there hasn't been at least some individual who's felt that the result's not what they wanted and therefore they want to speak out, and ... that's part of democracy," he said.

French-language publication Le Droit covered the controversial nomination process, noting that some wanting to run were told a candidate had already been chosen and that she was the only one who sent in her documents on time. But a source told Le Droit this wasn't the case.

One of the people Le Droit cited as wanting to run was entrepreneur Haman Mamdouhi, who the publication said referred to the process as "discriminatory."

Speaking to QP Briefing on Wednesday afternoon, Mamdouhi said "I'm very happy that we have a strong candidate, I think the situation could certainly have been communicated better." Mamdouhi said communication early on that the party was looking to appoint someone would have been helpful.

While Mamdouhi said the commitment to have women making up a set target of the party's candidates was "genuinely a bold effort on the party" and one aimed at inclusivity, the concern was that this could end up excluding some members of the LGBTQ community.

Del Duca said that before the party started nominating candidates, it committed to updating the nomination rules of procedure to ensure that at least 50 per cent of candidates would be female — a promise he had made during his leadership campaign.

"We made a decision to go forward with a new tool left to our nominations commissioner to declare plans for ridings 'women only,' meaning that only women would be able to run. That's what we've chosen to do in Don Valley West. It's in keeping with the rules," he said. "I know there are individuals who perhaps might have wanted to seek the nomination in Don Valley West who wouldn't have met that criteria, but that's the decision that we made. It's a really important thing to me."

He said it's especially important to him as a father of two daughters that "women, particularly young women in this province, see other women succeeding in positions of leadership in politics and beyond, in government and beyond."

Bowman will be up against a prominent NDP candidate — Irwin Elman, the province's former child and youth advocate whose standalone office was shuttered by the Doug Ford government. The Greens have nominated architect Sheena Sharp as their candidate, while the Progressive Conservatives haven't yet announced a candidate for the riding.

Liberals to nominate Stephanie Bowman as candidate in Don Valley West, defend decision on declaring it ‘women only’ riding

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