Kitchener Centre residents head to polls in provincial byelection

KITCHENER, Ont. — Kitchener Centre is set to get a new provincial representative tonight.

Residents head to the polls today to elect their new member of provincial parliament, after the seat has been vacant since July, when Laura Mae Lindo resigned.

She held the seat for the NDP, and a local political communications expert says this race should come down to the NDP and the Greens.

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NDP candidate Debbie Chapman and Green candidate Aislinn Clancy are both Kitchener city councillors and both say affordability has been the top issue they have heard about at the doors.

The Liberals held the riding before 2018, and byelection candidate Kelly Steiss says she thinks Premier Doug Ford called the byelection in the middle of the Liberal leadership race on purpose — their new leader will be named on Saturday.

Progressive Conservative candidate Rob Elliott is a former PC party vice-president and regional organizer who does not live in Kitchener.