Liberal, Conservative leaders running in adjacent Ottawa area ridings

Mark Carney and Pierre Poilievre are both running against each other to become the next prime minister of Canada but the Liberal and Conservative leaders are also seeking Ottawa-area seats in ridings located right next to each other. APTN News met with up with some of the candidates running against the two party leaders on the campaign trail and this is some of what they had to say. Chandra Arya has represented variations of the Nepean riding since 2015 but shortly after the federal election was called the Liberals announced he would be ineligible to represent the party making way for Carney to seek the seat. Arya has been the subject of allegations of foreign interference due to his ties with India and was also banned from running in the Liberal leadership contest. The riding is in the west end of Ottawa and is largely made up of the suburban community of Barhaven. Shyam Shukla is a federal civil servant running for the NDP who said issues such as affordability, public transit and the government’s return to the office mandate after the COVID pandemic are on the minds of voters he talks to. In conversation at Carmelito Cafe in Barhaven, Shukla said the task of running against the current prime minister is indeed a big one but feels the NDP is the best party to represent regular working people like himself. “It’s to improve government and to ensure that a lot of local issues are not overlooked,” he said. “I just go back to that. I think regardless of who the winner is in this riding, I think I will be able to continue to highlight that and keep the focus on issues that matter to people in their everyday lives.” Green Party candidate Greg Hopkins is a long-time Barhaven resident who works as a youth counsellor. In an interview at nearby Madahoki Farm, Hopkins said he is running a low-key campaign even forgoing the purchase of lawn signs. With U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff and annexation threats dominating the campaign, he admitted it is difficult to get environmental issues such as climate change on the agenda but he is doing his best. As far as the running against Carney, Hopkins said he is taking the challenge in stride and happy to do it. “I’m thrilled to be able to run against the Prime Minister,” he said with a chuckle. “It’s got my kids interested in politics now. My 15-year-old says, ‘Well, the next election I’ll be 18 and I’m running.’ And I said, ‘That’s awesome.’ So, this is pretty cool.” The Carleton riding is in the southwest part of the city below the Nepean constituency. It takes in a number of rural areas and includes the smaller communities of Stittsville, Richmond and Manotick. Pierre Poilievre has been elected in variations of the riding since 2004. As part of a protest called the Longest Ballot, there are a total of 91 candidates running in Carleton in this election most of which are independents. Small businessman Bruce Fanjoy is running for the Liberals. Speaking at his Stittsville campaign office, Fanjoy said the key issue of the campaign is who can best stand up to Donald Trump and Pierre Poilievre is not up for the job. “Our parliamentary democracy requires everyone, even if you’re Pierre Poilievre, to win your riding and he’s held this riding for a long time, has accomplished nothing neither for the riding or the country and it’s a record that he needs to be held to account for,” he said. We head out for some door knocking in Stittsville with Fanjoy and run into resident Muhammad Chowdhury who calls himself a swing voter who was leaning Conservative but is now leaning Liberal since the former head of the Bank of Canada Carney became Liberal leader. “I was looking at the background and the strength between our MP who is PP (Pierre Poilievre) and Carney and it looks like Carney has much more deserved to be the next prime minister because of the tariff war that’s between U.S. and Canada,” he said. Mark Watson is the Green candidate in Carleton who is also a small businessman. Speaking at his acreage in Dunrobin, he said with climate change a key issue, the Conservatives and Poilievre are headed in the wrong direction. “This riding needs a better choice after seven terms and quite frankly the planet needs a better choice,” he said. “We’ve got the Leader of the Opposition who believes we need to continue exploiting our fossil fuels to pay for all his ambitious programs. This is the industry of yesterday.” APTN News also reached out to Nepean Conservative candidate Barbara Bal and Carleton NDP candidate Beth Prokaska but did not receive a response. Election day is April 28. Continue Reading