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In Ottawa, all eyes are on four key ridings that could help tell the tale of how this provincial election will go.
Ottawa West-Nepean, Ottawa-Orleans, Ottawa South and Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, were Liberal at dissolution. But that could easily change Thursday night.
Perhaps the most compelling race, once again, is Ottawa West-Nepean where Liberal Bob Chiarelli, a veteran of both municipal and provincial politics, is facing Progressive Conservative challenger Randall Denley for the second time. Denley was a slim two percentage points behind Chiarelli in the 2011 election, losing by 1,009 votes.
It has been evident that the Tories covet the riding. On Monday, PC leader Tim Hudak made his second appearance in five days in Ottawa, apparently to repair the damage caused by telling reporters the province “couldn’t afford” to fund the second phase of light rail. Denley, by the way, supported light rail as a columnist for the Ottawa Citizen. Hudak blundered again by responding to an Ottawa issues questionnaire sent by Mayor Jim Watson to all candidates with a form letter about the Million Jobs Plan.
There is also a potential spoiler in Ottawa West-Nepean. The NDP candidate is Chiarelli’s former city council adversary Alex Cullen, a former Liberal MPP. In the last election, just under 15 per cent of voters in the riding supported the NDP. This time around, the big question is whether Cullen will steal Liberal votes or whether NDP voters will block Denley by voting Liberal. Liberals have urged voters to vote strategically, with Bob Chiarelli circulating a flyer that warned voters that supporting the NDP “risks a Hudak government.”
In Dalton McGuinty’s old riding of Ottawa South, Liberal since 1987, there is change in the air. In a by-election last summer after McGuinty retired, the seat went to Liberal John Fraser over Matt Young of the PCs by less than 1,300 votes. Both were first-time candidates in a riding where social services and transit are top-of-mind for voters.
Ottawa-Orleans will also see a battle of two newcomers after the retirement of Liberal Phil McNeely. Lawyer and political scientist Andrew Lister is running for the PCs against social worker Marie-France Lalonde for the Liberals. Among the top issues in the riding: the long commute from Orleans to downtown. Hudak has promised to “upload” responsibility for Highway 174 to the province, and the economic benefits that come with upgrading the east-west corridor are palatable to many in the riding.
In Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, the Liberal incumbent Grant Crack, who was mayor of North Glengarry for 11 years, is battling it out with PC Roxanne Villeneuve Robertson, the executive assistant to PC powerhouse Lisa MacLeod. Top issues in the rural riding: infrastructure, jobs and hydro rates.
The Liberals have a pair of safe seats . Ottawa-Vanier has been Liberal since 1971. Madeleine Meilleur has held the seat for three straight elections winning by 10,000 votes each time. Ottawa-Centre also seems firmly in the hands of Yasir Naqvi, with one caveat, the riding has a strong NDP history and the New Democrats have enlisted a name candidate in Jennifer McKenzie, chair of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board.
Elsewhere in the region, the PCS have a trio of safe seats with Jack MacLaren in Carleton-Mississippi Mills, Randy Hillier in Lanark, Frontenac Lennox & Addington and John Yakabuski in Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke. In 2011, MacLaren won with a lead of over 7,000 votes, while Hillier breezed past the Liberals with a 10,000-vote lead and Yakabuski trounced his Liberal opponent by over 20,000 votes.
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Ottawa West-Nepean, Ottawa-Orleans, Ottawa South and Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, were Liberal at dissolution. But that could easily change Thursday night.
Perhaps the most compelling race, once again, is Ottawa West-Nepean where Liberal Bob Chiarelli, a veteran of both municipal and provincial politics, is facing Progressive Conservative challenger Randall Denley for the second time. Denley was a slim two percentage points behind Chiarelli in the 2011 election, losing by 1,009 votes.
It has been evident that the Tories covet the riding. On Monday, PC leader Tim Hudak made his second appearance in five days in Ottawa, apparently to repair the damage caused by telling reporters the province “couldn’t afford” to fund the second phase of light rail. Denley, by the way, supported light rail as a columnist for the Ottawa Citizen. Hudak blundered again by responding to an Ottawa issues questionnaire sent by Mayor Jim Watson to all candidates with a form letter about the Million Jobs Plan.
There is also a potential spoiler in Ottawa West-Nepean. The NDP candidate is Chiarelli’s former city council adversary Alex Cullen, a former Liberal MPP. In the last election, just under 15 per cent of voters in the riding supported the NDP. This time around, the big question is whether Cullen will steal Liberal votes or whether NDP voters will block Denley by voting Liberal. Liberals have urged voters to vote strategically, with Bob Chiarelli circulating a flyer that warned voters that supporting the NDP “risks a Hudak government.”
In Dalton McGuinty’s old riding of Ottawa South, Liberal since 1987, there is change in the air. In a by-election last summer after McGuinty retired, the seat went to Liberal John Fraser over Matt Young of the PCs by less than 1,300 votes. Both were first-time candidates in a riding where social services and transit are top-of-mind for voters.
Ottawa-Orleans will also see a battle of two newcomers after the retirement of Liberal Phil McNeely. Lawyer and political scientist Andrew Lister is running for the PCs against social worker Marie-France Lalonde for the Liberals. Among the top issues in the riding: the long commute from Orleans to downtown. Hudak has promised to “upload” responsibility for Highway 174 to the province, and the economic benefits that come with upgrading the east-west corridor are palatable to many in the riding.
In Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, the Liberal incumbent Grant Crack, who was mayor of North Glengarry for 11 years, is battling it out with PC Roxanne Villeneuve Robertson, the executive assistant to PC powerhouse Lisa MacLeod. Top issues in the rural riding: infrastructure, jobs and hydro rates.
The Liberals have a pair of safe seats . Ottawa-Vanier has been Liberal since 1971. Madeleine Meilleur has held the seat for three straight elections winning by 10,000 votes each time. Ottawa-Centre also seems firmly in the hands of Yasir Naqvi, with one caveat, the riding has a strong NDP history and the New Democrats have enlisted a name candidate in Jennifer McKenzie, chair of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board.
Elsewhere in the region, the PCS have a trio of safe seats with Jack MacLaren in Carleton-Mississippi Mills, Randy Hillier in Lanark, Frontenac Lennox & Addington and John Yakabuski in Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke. In 2011, MacLaren won with a lead of over 7,000 votes, while Hillier breezed past the Liberals with a 10,000-vote lead and Yakabuski trounced his Liberal opponent by over 20,000 votes.
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