A unique race unfolds in Kitchener-Conestoga
Rivals working hard to steal rural riding away from Tories
ELMIRA — More than high-speed rail, buck-a-beer or hydro rates, one of the biggest issues for voters in Kitchener-Conestoga may be the guy named Harris on the ballot.
In what’s certainly a first in Canadian politics, the Progressive Conservatives replaced MPP Michael Harris with Mike Harris Jr., the son of the former premier — after a dubious scandal involving some flirty texts.
The question now is how that controversial swap will play out in Kitchener-Conestoga, a vast, rural riding that encompasses the townships of Wilmot, Wellesley and Woolwich and the southwest corner of Kitchener.
Opponents believe the decision to appoint Mike Harris instead of letting PC party members choose their candidate will certainly be a factor.
“There’s some discontent here for some PC voters, as far as how this whole thing came about,” said Kelly Dick, the riding’s NDP candidate and a longtime labour organizer.
“I think definitely it’s going to have an impact, for sure. People are disappointed that they didn’t get to have a say in who their representative was going to be.”
The Green party’s Bob Jonkman believes MPP Michael Harris was “ousted through invalid means” — and that’s changed the whole tenor of this campaign.
“That’s caused a lot of unrest among Progressive Conservatives,” he said. “I really think there’s change in the offing. Not having an experienced candidate like Michael has made it easier for all the other candidates.”
Joe Gowing, the Liberal candidate, said the Mike Harris campaign appears to be trying to exploit confusion over the name — referring to the new candidate as “Michael Harris” and not Mike Harris Jr., when they call people asking for support.
“When I knock on doors with a Mike Harris sign out front, there are a lot of people who don’t know there’s a difference,” he said. “It’s confusing, for sure. Maybe that’s one of their tactics.”
Harris, hoping to win in a riding that has elected a PC representative since 2011, said the people making calls for his campaign are following a script and should be saying Mike, not Michael.
“I can see how it’s confusing. But in no way shape or form are we trying to mislead people,” he said.
“It’s certainly not something that I would ever want to be happening.”
Harris believes the riding is his to lose, given historical support for conservative candidates. That’s why he’s been focusing his message around the economy, creating jobs and fiscal management.
“Nothing is ever certain in politics,” he said. “Am I still confident I’m going to win? Of course ... But traditionally, with this being a conservative riding, I think we have a very good chance at keeping it blue.”
Changes to the riding’s boundaries are also making this election more interesting, after it shrunk to accommodate the new riding of Kitchener South-Hespeler.
Some believe those boundary changes — expanding slightly into Kitchener Centre and Waterloo’s former western territory while losing a southwestern chunk of suburban Kitchener — have added more left-leaning voters to the riding.
It remains a predominantly conservative base, however.
Voters in Waterloo-Wellingon, the nowabolished riding that included the southwestern part of Kitchener and the townships of Wilmot, Wellesley and Woolwich, never elected an NDP representative.
The last time an NDP candidate won any part of this territory was back in the Bob Rae days, when former rubber worker Mike Cooper was elected the MPP for Kitchener-Wilmot, although the boundaries have changed significantly since then.
Also vying for voters’ support here is Libertarian Daniel Benoy and Consensus Ontario’s Dan Holt.
All candidates in the riding, where concerns range from preserving farmland to improving child care to containing government spending, say they’re the best choice for those looking for change.
“I think people are looking for change in this riding, and we don’t have to choose between bad and worse anymore,” Dick said.
“People are looking for responsible government, they’re looking for honesty, they’re looking for change. They’re tired of Liberal and conservative governments going back on promises, and they’re starting to understand what the NDP has to offer.”
Gowing, a banker and former trustee on the Waterloo Catholic District School Board, said he’s the only major candidate who lives in the riding. The Liberals last won here in 2007, and lost by just 1,419 votes in 2014.
He said he’s one of dozens of new, young Liberal candidates who can offer fresh ideas and convince voters to stick with the governing party.
“This riding is not reflecting what the provincial polls are showing,” he said. “We know we’re fresh thinkers and we’re going to be able to make the changes that need to be made.”
Jonkman believes strategic voting — choosing a candidate because you want to prevent another from winning — could hurt the Greens in this election.
But he hopes voters will see that his priorities, from subsidies for alternative energy to expanding the Greenbelt into local farmland, offer a positive vision for the riding.
“Change is possible, if people aren’t afraid to actually vote for what they believe in,” he said. “Strategic voting hurts everyone in the long run.”
With the NDP appearing to be gaining momentum in provincial polls, Dick said she has a large group of volunteers working long hours to do something that’s never been done before — turn KitchenerConestoga orange.
Her party has never finished better than third since the riding was created, but she believes that’s about to change.
“I’m definitely going to give him a run for his money,” she said.