TORONTO – The electoral district of Guelph (formerly Guelph-Wellington), located in southwestern Ontario, consists primarily the City of Guelph. Traditionally a Liberal stronghold, Lloyd Longfield, the current MP, is seeking re-election for the Liberals.
He was elected in October 2015 when he succeeded Frank Valeriote, who decided not to run for re-election after representing the riding from 2008 to 2015.
In 2019, Longfield was re-elected, with 40.4% of the vote. He beat out the Green Party candidate, Steve Dyck, who took 25.5% of the vote. Ashish Sachan of the Conservatives garnered 19.3% in that election, followed by NDP candidate Aisha Jahangir with 12.3%.
According to the latest projections by 338Canada.com (August 23), which uses algorithms that take into account results of all major polls, the Liberals lead by 19 percentage points, ahead of the Conservatives. Support for the Greens and NDP appear a close tie with less than one-point difference.
Jahangir, a registered nurse, told the Corriere Canadese (CC) she recognizes that constituents are concerned about healthcare and the environment. If elected, she said, “my goal as MP will be to fight for head-to-toe public health care and for action to fight the Climate Crisis”.
She has fought this fight before. In fact, this will be the second time (since 2019), that she and Conservative candidate Ashish Sachan, (a veterinarian and toxicologist) will be up against Longfield in a general election.
The regional economy is diversified in sectors ranging from manufacturing, education, agri-food and biotechnology. This has made the region popular among immigrant groups.
Sachan told the CC it was the “vibrant history, rich traditions and culture, great schools and strong community feel” that prompted him to call Guelph home. He said his decision to run in this election is “to represent this riding with the best of intentions for the prosperity of our community and the Country”.
Guelph’s population is primarily of European origin primarily British. Italians make up 10% of the constituents in the district.
Other party candidates did not reply to our request for comment prior to our deadline.
