Ajax (Ontario) 6/338

 Ajax (Ontario)

Today we have our first Ontario riding of our trip, Ajax!

Ajax as a riding has been in place since the 2012 redistribution, taking the entire town of Ajax out of the Ajax-Pickering riding. The riding, as seems obvious, encapsulates the entire town of Ajax, which is the most densely populated town in the Durham region at 1,634.2 per square kilometre. (2011 Census)

Politically, Ajax swung almost 18 points to the Liberals in 2015 due to their very strong support in suburban areas. The seat (and equivalent previous seats) has been held by Liberal MP Mark Holland since 2000 except for 2011-2015 when it was represented by Conservative MP Chris Alexander, who subsequently lost re-election in 2015. Mark Holland is the Chief Government Whip of the House of Commons. 

The seat has been trending to the left, mostly due to the rise of the suburbs and commuter cities/communities. This is a riding that has had a pretty reliable Liberal voting bloc, the main reason the Tories picked up the seat is the loss of Liberal trust and the gain of NDP and Conservative support. In 2019, the riding was 108/121 in Ontario and 262/338 in Canada.

Rating:

Name: 10/10 - This is how you name a riding! Using the town limits as the shape leaves no outskirts to take into account when naming.

Shape: 8.3/10 - Just because it uses the town limits, doesn't mean I'm a fan of them. I appreciate the three clean edges, just not really feeling the suburbs that jut out. 

Individuality: 4.4/10 - Very typical for a suburban commuter riding. Increasingly Liberal, less Conservative presence. The median age of 36.2 in 2011 is fairly interesting, but not enough to make it higher up.

Total: 22.7/30 (75.6%)

Tomorrow we're heading back to Quebec with Alfred-Pellan!