New riding cuts across Kitchener and Hespeler
WATERLOO REGION — As candidates make their final push for voter support ahead of the June 7 election, one riding in Waterloo Region is a blank slate awaiting its first incumbent.
Kitchener South-Hespeler was formed three years ago for the 2015 federal election and will be contested for the first time at the provincial level this year.
According to Elections Ontario, six people have put their name forward to become the first MPP of the new riding, home to 105,309 people.
The 107-square-kilometre riding is bordered by Townline Road in Cambridge to the east, Fischer-Hallman Road in Kitchener to the west, Highway 401 and New Dundee Road to the south, and Conestoga Parkway, Highway 8, Fairway Road and Kossuth Drive to the north.
The new riding includes areas that were formerly part of Kitchener-Conestoga (won by PC Michael Harris in the last election) and Cambridge (won by Liberal Kathryn McGarry). The federal riding of Kitchener South-Hespeler was won by Liberal Marwan Tabbara in 2015.
The main candidates for the June 7 election are (in alphabetical order):
• Progressive Conservative Amy Fee: A former Waterloo Catholic District School Board trustee for Kitchener-Wilmot, Fee is also board chair for Bridges To Belonging Waterloo Region, which supports people with disabilities. Before moving to Waterloo Region in 2009, the mother of four worked in Toronto, Regina and Vancouver as a broadcast news anchor and sports reporter.
• Liberal Surekha Shenoy: A resident of Waterloo Region since 1995, Shenoy earned an MBA in finance and operations from Wilfrid Laurier University. She lives in Cambridge with her husband and their two daughters. She is past chair of the Cambridge Memorial Hospital Foundation, and a volunteer with Youth on Board Mentoring, the East Indian Community Walkathon of Waterloo Region and the Trinity Community Table soup kitchen.
• NDP Fitzroy Vanderpool: The former professional boxer known as “Fitz The Whip” moved to Kitchener from Trinidad and Tobago with his family in 1972. He held multiple national and international boxing titles before starting a local boxing academy in Waterloo in 2003. He officially retired in 2014 and is a community speaker on topics that include youth bullying and fire safety. He was awarded the Canada 150 Sesquicentennial Award and is in the Waterloo County Hall of Fame. • Green Party David Weber: Born and raised in the community, Weber has served Waterloo Region as a police officer for 30 years. He first ran for the Green Party in the 2014 provincial election in Kitchener-Conestoga and finished fourth, with 3,319 votes. He also ran for the Greens in Kitchener South-Hespeler in the 2015 federal election, finishing fourth with 1,767 votes.
Other candidates include Libertarian Nathan Andre Lajeunesse and Independent Narine Sookram.
Residents in the riding are relatively young, with about 54 per cent under 40 years old, and the average family household has three people.
The riding is close to all major commuter routes in the region, and transportation should be an issue in the election, said Kitchener city councillor Kelly GallowaySealock. Her ward is at the west end of the riding and traffic congestion can get particularly bad along Fischer-Hallman Road and Highway 401.
“People are commuting back and forth, and I would say two-way, all-day GO or high speed rail” are major issues, the councillor said. “I think they would decrease the amount of traffic and congestion and would definitely make an impact.”
Stefany Kawka, chair of the Hespeler Village Business Improvement Area, wants the provincial government to put a renewed focus on helping small businesses grow and succeed, including grants, loans and small business training programs.
“Things that not only help businesses that have already started, but to help initiate new businesses, too,” Kawka said.
The government should also help more communities like Hespeler clean up and redevelop contaminated building sites, known as brownfields.
“It’s underutilized land, so work with the municipality or the province and look at how we can make those areas more useful. An example might be a skateboard park,” Kawka said.