Like many other ridings in Ontario, Peterborough-Kawartha has new boundaries in this provincial election.
Gone are Asphodel-Norwood and Otonabee-South Monaghan townships. Added are North Kawartha and Trent Lakes.
The riding, formerly known as Peterborough, has voted for the party that won the most seats in every provincial election since 1977 (a streak of 11 straight elections).
Peterborough-Kawartha is fairly small in size for a rural riding at approximately 2,100 square kilometres. It features mostly rural land with some urban, including Peterborough city. According to Elections Ontario, of the 117,000 people who live here, 92,000 can vote.
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Incumbent Jeff Leal is back as the Liberal candidate. He’s looking for his fifth consecutive term at Queen’s Park.
Dave Smith, who is well-known in the local hockey circle, is running for the Progressive Conservatives. Sean Conway, an artist and musician from Curve Lake First Nation, is the NDP candidate. Gianne Broughton is running for the Ontario Green Party.
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“One of the questions they ask me, as the representative for Peterborough-Kawartha, will you make strategic investments to make the economy grow?” said Leal.
“The number of long-term care beds we are lacking in Ontario right now. Wait times at the hospital, the fact they don’t have family doctors. Those are three major ones that come up with respect to health care. The other one is electricity. The cost of hydro is outrageous,” said Smith.
“Between health care and hydro are big issues in this election. People are worried about wait times, inability to get a doctor, getting into long-term care and hallway medicine is out of control. Hydro bills are through the roof. People are fed up. They’re feeling the squeeze,” said Conway.
https://twitter.com/JeffLeal_MPP/status/1001118900442943488
https://twitter.com/seanconwayndp/status/1001127157127577601
Also running are Jacob William Currier as a Libertarian, Ken Ranney for Stop Climate Change and Rob Roddick for Trillium.
The Ontario election is June 7.
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