Kitchener—Conestoga (Ontario) 143/338

 Kitchener—Conestoga (Ontario)

Today we're in Kitchener—Conestoga!

Kitchener—Conestoga has existed as a riding since 2004. The population was 100,709 in 2016. The riding contains the city of Kitchener, as well as the townships of Wellesley (11,260 in 2016), Wilmot (20,545 in 2016), and Woolwich (25,006 in 2016). The riding previously contained half of what is now Kitchener South—Hespeler.

Politically, this seat has followed a couple national/provincial trends. First, the Ford Effect: in the 2019 election, most of Ontario swung away from the Conservatives, which many theorize to be because of the way Premier Doug Ford was characterized during the election campaign. This seat (and nearby Milton) flipped from the Conservatives to the Liberals in 2019. The second trend is the modern Liberals and their strength in suburbs. In 2019, the Liberals won all but three polling divisions in the Kitchener part of the riding. This seat is currently held by Liberal MP Tim Louis.

While the riding hasn't gone through too many changes, the past two elections have been an indication of national trends. In 2015, the two parties in contention held 87% of the vote, down to 79% in 2019 and 78% in 2021. Again, not a huge shift, but when you notice the two main parties slipping that much, it indicates that we could be slipping away from a two party mindset. Then again, the performances were at a similar level in 2004/2006. In 2019, this seat was 2/121 in Ontario and 6/338 in Canada by margin.

The name is good, Conestoga is a local name whose historical significance (and spelling) is up in the air, nevertheless, creative name. As for the shape, not awful, I'd prefer if the riding got rid of Kitchener and just extended down to the part of Cambridge that is in Kitchener South—Hespeler. Individuality, props to the riding for pulling a Florida and flipping when it wasn't supposed to.

See you tomorrow in Kitchener South—Hespeler!