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Liberals might have lost, but Zuberi isn't going anywhere

'This is my community. I’m not going anywhere,' said Liberal candidate Mustafa Zuberi

It might have been his first rodeo into provincial politics, but it won’t be his last. 

As the Greens took a sweeping win with more than half the local vote followed by Robert Coole (PC), Liberal candidate Mustafa Zuberi came in third with nearly 12 per cent of the local vote. 

“Regardless of the election result tonight, (I’m) proud of the way that we’ve come out and on such short notice, essentially got the name out there,” Zuberi said. 

“I want to congratulate Mike Schreiner on an amazing victory this time around,” he said. “The people of Guelph really like his vision for the community.” 

At 24, Zuberi was the youngest local candidate. It was his first time running in an election. 

He moved from Pakistan with his family 11 years ago at the age of 13, with his mother and two siblings, going to John F. Ross CVI, and earning a political science degree from the University of Guelph, where he was the president of the Young Liberal Club. 

When the party asked him to run a few weeks ago, he wanted to go to bat for a city he says has given so much to him. 

“I’ve always had political aspirations. Running in Guelph was always the biggest ambition for me. Guelph is home, and I wouldn't want to run anywhere else,” he said, adding that his intention was to champion team Guelph over team Liberal. 

But with such little time to campaign, he said it was like building the plane while it was flying. 

“I would have preferred to do this another time, in June or July,” he said, adding there were times he was trudging through the snow with his campaign team, putting out signs and knocking on doors in frigid weather until 3 a.m.  

Still, it was a learning experience; getting to participate in debates with the other candidates helped him become a better public speaker and debater, he said. But mostly, it allowed him to connect with the community. 

“The best thing I’ve got from this campaign is having those individual conversations with people. A lot of them just want to be heard.” 

“I couldn’t be more thankful for what has happened.”

Liberals haven’t held the seat in Guelph since before 2018 when Mike Schreiner was elected as the first Green MPP in Ontario. Prior to that, they had won the previous four elections. 

In 2018, they finished in fourth place with 6,537 votes, and 7,264, or 13 per cent of the local vote, in 2022. Zuberi came just shy at 6,874 votes, or 11.43 per cent of the vote. 

Zuberi’s mom, Bushra Arif, said she was incredibly proud of what Zuberi accomplished in such a short time. 

“If (nearly) 7,000 people have gone out thinking about him and voted for him, it’s a great start for a young person,” she said. “Overall I think it was a great experience.” 

Though he was not successful in his first election, he said it certainly won’t be his last; he’s in it for the long game. 

“At one point, you’re going to have to pass the baton over to someone else,” he said. “And whether you vote for me or not, I’ll be here being a helping hand to the community. 

“The next few years I’ll be helping the community as much as I can to earn their trust, to know that there’s someone else standing up to be their voice in the future. This is my community. I’m not going anywhere,” he said.