When Stittsville residents vote in the federal election on October 19, we’ll be part of the newly-created riding called Carleton, instead of our old riding of Carleton-Mississippi Mills.
It’s all part of a re-organization of federal ridings in Canada that will see the number of elected MPs increase by from 308 to 338. Ontario will have 121 of those seats, up by 15 from the last election.
The new horseshoe-shaped riding encompasses several suburbs and a lot of urban area on the outskirts of Ottawa, including neighbourhoods like Manotick, part of Ottawa South and Riverside South.
(There’s also a new Kanata-Carleton riding to the north and east of us.)
Along with the new ridings comes a new MP for our area. Gordon O’Connor, first elected in 2004 in Carleton-Mississippi Mills, has announced that he’s retiring.
Here’s who’s running so far in Carleton:
CONSERVATIVES: Pierre Poilievre, an outspoken and sometimes controversial member of Stephen Harper’s cabinet, was first elected to Nepean-Carleton in 2004 and has held the seat since then. He’s originally from Calgary, Alberta. There have been several sightings of Poilievre around Stittsville at community events over the last couple of months.
TWITTER: @pierrepoilievre
LIBERALS: Chris Rodgers was chosen to run in this riding back in May and has been actively campaigning ever since. According to his bio he has a range of experience from “five years in the funeral business to nearly a decade in the public service as a policy and research analyst”. He lives in Kars.
TWITTER: @votechris2015
NDP: KC Laroque was acclaimed just last week. She’s worked as a public servant, an NDP staffer as well as work in the private sector. Her family has “deep roots” in the Ottawa area, according to her bio.
TWITTER: @kclarocque
GREEN: Deborah Coyne has been a lawyer, university professor, constitutional activist and public servant, but is perhaps best known as a former Liberal leadership candidate against Justin Trudeau. Since earlier this year she’s been a senior policy advisor to the leader of the Green Party of Canada.
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Over the next few months we’ll be tagging all of our election articles with elxn42. We’d also like to hear from Stittsville readers about what issues are important to you and what you think of the candidates and party platforms so far. You can email us at feedback@stittsvillecentral.ca or leave a comment below.
Official description of the new Carleton riding from Elections Canada: “Consisting of that part of the City of Ottawa described as follows: commencing at the intersection of the westerly limit of said city with Highway No. 7; thence generally northeasterly along said highway to Highway No. 417; thence northeasterly along said highway to Huntmar Drive; thence southeasterly along said drive to Maple Grove Road; thence northeasterly along said road to the Carp River; thence generally southeasterly along said river to the southwesterly production of Spearman Lane; thence northeasterly along said production to Terry Fox Drive; thence generally southeasterly along said drive to Eagleson Road; thence southeasterly along said road to Brophy Drive; thence northeasterly along said drive, Bankfield Road and its northeasterly production to the Rideau River (westerly of Long Island); thence northwesterly and generally northerly along said river (westerly of Long Island and Nicolls Island) to West Hunt Club Road; thence easterly along said road and Hunt Club Road to Riverside Drive; thence generally southerly along said drive and Limebank Road to Leitrim Road; thence northeasterly along said road to the southeasterly production of the Canadian Pacific Railway; thence northwesterly along said production and the Canadian Pacific Railway to Lester Road; thence northeasterly along said road and Davidson Road to Conroy Road; thence northwesterly along said road to Hunt Club Road; thence northeasterly along said road to Hawthorne Road; thence northeasterly in a straight line to the intersection of Russell Road with Blake Road; thence northeasterly along Blake Road and its northeasterly production to Highway No. 417; thence generally southeasterly along said highway to Ramsayville Road; thence southerly and southeasterly along said road to Mitch Owens Road; thence northeasterly along said road to Boundary Road; thence southeasterly along said road to the easterly limit of said city; thence southeasterly, generally southwesterly and generally northwesterly along the easterly, southerly and westerly limits of said city to the point of commencement.”