Ontario Votes 2018: Kanata–Carleton
Riding significantly redrawn and renamed, but maintains suburban and rural areas
Kanata–Carleton will be a riding to watch this election as incumbent Jack MacLaren faces off against his former party in the newly redrawn, suburban and rural riding.
It has shrunk significantly since the last election, with the old Carleton–Mississippi Mills riding losing 20 per cent of its territory to Carleton in the south and 35 per cent to Lanark–Frontenac–Kingston in the west.
On average, people in the riding have a substantially higher income than other parts of the region and a higher-than-average proportion of residents are under the age of 15. The riding is also ethnically diverse, with a particularly high percentage of people who identify as Chinese.
- Scroll down for a closer look at who makes up the riding, or click here.
- Who is running in eastern Ontario? Check out this riding map.
Who's running?
MacLaren is running under the Trillium Party banner after being expelled from the PC caucus for comments he made about French-language rights.
He has held the seat since 2011, when he won a bitter nomination battle against then PC incumbent Norm Sterling — a veteran conservative MPP who served in Mike Harris's cabinet. A fifth-generation farmer, MacLaren has seen continued strong rural support, even while battling scandal.
The PCs are hoping to win back the seat they held for decades with candidate Merrilee Fullerton, a former family physician and health advocate.
In recent elections the Liberals have held onto at least 30 per cent of the vote and likely hope a vote split between the two conservative candidates will propel Edmonton-raised former journalist Stephanie Maghnam to victory.
The NDP is running Kanata resident John Hansen, an engineer involved in the tech sector.
Filling out a crowded ballot are Andrew West for the Green Party of Ontario; Peter d'Entremont, a Libertarian candidate; and Robert LeBrun, running for the None of the Above Direct Democracy Party.
- Vote Compass | See how you fit in Ontario's political landscape
- Ontario Poll Tracker | The latest developments
- Ontario Votes 2018 | Complete coverage