Costas Menegakis

Costas Menegakis (born January 12, 1959 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]

Costas Menegakis
Menegakis in 2019
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Richmond Hill
In office May 30, 2011 – August 4, 2015
Preceded by	Bryon Wilfert
Succeeded by	Majid Jowhari
Personal details
Born	January 12, 1959 Montreal, Quebec[1]
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Gail[1]
Residence	Richmond Hill, Ontario
Profession	Politician

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, 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 Aurora Chamber of Commerce, 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.[3][4]

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.[5] 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.[6]

2015 federal election

In the 2015 federal election, Menegakis contested in the new Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill riding.[7] Menegakis was defeated by Liberal candidate Leona Alleslev by just 1,093 votes.[8]

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.[9]

Electoral record

2019 Canadian federal election: Richmond Hill
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Majid Jowhari	21,804	43.48	-3.42
	Conservative	Costas Menegakis	21,692	43.06	-0.26
	New Democratic	Adam DeVita	4,425	8.80	+0.76
	Green	Ichha Kohli	1,695	3.40	+1.66
	People's	Igor Tvorogov	507	1.0	0
	Rhinoceros	Otto Wevers	126	0.3	0
Total valid votes/Expense limit			50,149	100.0
Total rejected ballots			584
Turnout			50,733	59.9
Eligible voters			84,660
Source: Elections Canada[10][11]

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	–	–

2015 Canadian federal election
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[12][13][14]

References

1. "Federal Conservatives select Menegakis as candidate for new Aurora riding". The Auroran. 2014-03-26. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
2. "Costas Menegakis". Parliament of Canada. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
3. "Richmond Hill Conservative Candidate Costas Menegakis".
4. "Candidate Profile Costas Menegakis".
5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-08-10. Retrieved 2014-07-31.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
6. "Costas Menegakis - Overview - House of Commons of Canada". ourcommons.ca. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
7. Beck, Marney (2014-03-23). "Menegakis acclaimed as Conservative candidate in new riding". YorkRegion.com. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
8. "Federal Election 2015: Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill riding results - Toronto | Globalnews.ca". globalnews.ca. 2015-09-08. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
9. Nov 15, Charlie Pinkerton Published on; 2018 6:15pm (2018-11-15). "Ex-MP bumped to riding next door after Alleslev's floor-crossing". iPolitics. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
10. "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
11. "FORTY-THIRD GENERAL ELECTION 2019 — Poll-by-poll results". elections.ca. Elections Canada. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
12. Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, 30 September 2015
13. Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates Archived 2015-08-15 at the Wayback Machine
14. "Election Night Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved 20 October 2015.

External links

• Costas Menegakis, official website
• Costas Menegakis – Parliament of Canada biography