Ontario Votes 2018: KanataCarleton

KanataCarleton will be a riding to watch this electionas incumbent Jack MacLaren faces off against his former party in the newly redrawn, suburban andrural riding.

It has shrunk significantly since thelast election, withthe oldCarletonMississippi Mills riding losing 20 per cent of its territory to Carleton in the south and 35 per cent to LanarkFrontenacKingston inthe west.

On average, people in the riding have a substantially higherincome than other parts of the regionand a higher-than-average proportion of residents areunder 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 runningunder the Trillium Party bannerafter being expelled from the PC caucus for comments he made aboutFrench-language rights.

Hehas held the seat since 2011, when he won a bitter nomination battle against then PC incumbent Norm Sterling a veteran conservative MPPwho served in Mike Harris's cabinet. A fifth-generation farmer, MacLarenhas seen continued strong rural support, even while battling scandal.

The PCs are hoping to winback the seat they held for decades with candidate Merrilee Fullerton, a former family physician and health advocate.

In recent electionsthe Liberals have held onto at least 30 per cent of the voteand likely hope a vote split between the two conservative candidates will propelEdmonton-raised former journalist Stephanie Maghnamto victory.

The NDP is running Kanata resident John Hansen, an engineer involved in thetech sector.

Filling out a crowded ballot are Andrew Westfor the Green Party of Ontario;Peter d'Entremont,a Libertarian candidate;andRobert LeBrun,running for the None of the Above Direct Democracy Party.

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