Niagara Falls Review e-edition

> NIAGARA CENTRE

JAMES CULIC PORT COLBORNE LEADER

THE RIDING

Spanning four municipalities, Niagara Centre riding includes the entirety of Welland and Port Colborne, and smaller parts of the south ends of Thorold and St. Catharines. Outside of the two urban cores in Welland and Port Colborne, large chunks of the riding are rural and agricultural land. The demographics of the ridings are overwhelmingly of European descent ( about 80 per cent), with most of the ridings below two per cent each of various minorities, including Black, South Asian or Latin American. Unique to Niagara Centre is the large francophone population, where 6.7 per cent of the population lists French as its first language.

THE RACE

All of the major parties have put forward candidates for the race, making for a five-way battle. Liberal incumbent Vance Badawey is seeking reelection. In office, Badawey has served as co-chair of the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group. Before entering federal politics, he spent years as a regional councillor and mayor of Port Colborne.

The Conservative party has put forward Graham Speck as its candidate. Speck is born and raised in Niagara, and runs his family business. He is a city councillor in Welland.

The NDP has nominated Melissa McGlashan as the party’s candidate. She is a member of various boards and committees in Welland. She previously sought the NDP’s provincial candidacy in the same riding.

The Green party has put forward Kurtis McCartney as its candidate. At 36, he is young compared to the rest of the pack. McCartney is a licensed insurance broker and a board member with local environmental, arts and museum groups.

And rounding out the group is Michael Kimmons representing the People’s Party of Canada. Kimmons is a construction worker who also served as a reservist with the Canadian Armed Forces.

THE ISSUES

Issues vary between Niagara’s four ridings, but common themes are the increasing unaffordability of housing. Port Colborne and Welland have long been considered the more affordable places to purchase a house in Niagara, but both have been swept up in risings home prices and it’s become difficult to find a home under $400,000 in either city. Addiction problems are also rampant in both Welland and Port Colborne, which leads to a rash of petty crime and thefts.

BACKGROUND

Liberals have long considered Niagara Centre a stronghold. The riding has been red for a vast majority of its history, including a 50-year stretch from 1935 to 1985. The Conservatives have intermittently stolen the riding for a term. The NDP have only captured the riding twice, with Malcolm Allen winning back-to-back elections in 2008 and 2011, before the Liberals recaptured it in 2015 with Badawey.

VOTE 2021

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2021-09-16T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-09-16T07:00:00.0000000Z

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