Who will replace controversial MP Derek Sloan in Hastings–Lennox and Addington?
Race shaken up after incumbent Sloan decides to run in Alberta
While the winner can't be predicted as of yet, one thing is certain: voters in the riding of Hastings–Lennox and Addington will elect a new MP on Sept. 20.
Independent candidate Derek Sloan, who has held the seat since 2019, announced five days into the election campaign that he will abandon his bid for re-election in the eastern Ontario riding — and instead contest the Alberta riding of Banff-Airdrie.
Sloan gained notoriety for his socially conservative views during an unsuccessful bid for the Conservative Party's leadership. Soon after, he was expelled from the party altogether after accepting a donation from a notorious white nationalist.
Trying to retake the seat is former Liberal MP Mike Bossio, who Sloan defeated in 2019. The Liberal candidate won the riding in 2015 by fewer than 250 votes and was also a former Tyendinaga Township councillor and business owner.
Another entrant in the race is Jennifer Sloan, a nurse practitioner and Derek's wife.
Taking Sloan's spot as the Conservative candidate is Shelby Kramp-Neuman, a financial adviser, as well as a deputy mayor for Centre Hastings and the daughter of the region's MPP Daryl Kramp, who held the riding as a Conservative before Bossio.
Electrician James Babcock will run for the People's Party of Canada. Newcomer settlement worker Matilda DeBues has taken the NDP banner, and retiree and part-time handyman and sailor Reg Wilson represents the Green Party.
The riding is one of the area's smallest in terms of population and registered voters, and includes the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory.
