Conservatives have held Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke for 2 decades
Joseph Tunney | CBC News | Posted: August 15, 2021 3:22 PM | Last Updated: September 20, 2021
Cheryl Gallant has represented riding since 2000, winning by wide margin in 2019
The people of Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke have voted Conservative consistently since the 2000 election, when its current MP, Cheryl Gallant, first won her seat.
Before that, the riding had gone Liberal since its creation in the late 1970s.
While voters have been loyal to Gallant for the past two decades, she has faced controversy this year after being accused of peddling conspiracy theories.
In 2019, Gallant defeated the Liberals by 19.548 ballots, winning 52.7 per cent of all the votes counted.
The riding is the largest in eastern Ontario — 12,583 square kilometres in total — and is located northwest of Ottawa, containing Pembroke, Arnprior, Chalk River, Renfrew and Petawawa.
In 2021, Gallant will take on:
- Businessman and hobby farm owner David Ainsworth of the People's Party,
- Independent candidate and sustainability advocate Stefan Klietsch,
- former pilot Michael Lariviere, who withdrew as a Green Party candidate after nominations closed,
- local journalist Cyndi Mills for the Liberals,
- and lawyer Jodie Primeau will run under the NDP's banner