Burlington

Burlington is a suburban riding at the southwestern end of Lake Ontario, situated between Hamilton to the west and Oakville to the east in the Halton Region. The city sits on the sloping plain between the Niagara Escarpment and the Lake Ontario shoreline, with Burlington Bay and the Royal Botanical Gardens marking its western boundary. The riding encompasses the entire City of Burlington.

Candidates

Mike Wallace (Conservative) — A graduate of the University of Guelph with a degree in political science, Wallace moved to Burlington in 1987. He was first elected to Burlington City Council in 1994, representing the city's southeast ward, and was re-elected three times, serving twelve years as a municipal councillor. He won the federal Burlington seat for the Conservatives in 2006 and was re-elected in 2008, making 2011 his bid for a third term. In Ottawa, he chaired the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.

Alyssa Brierley (Liberal) — Brierley was a lawyer whose practice focused on the regulatory regime for refugees.

David Laird (NDP) — Laird became active with the NDP in Burlington in 2003 and had represented the party in the riding in previous federal elections, building the local NDP organization over successive campaigns.

Graham Reid Mayberry (Green Party) and Elaine Baetz (Marxist-Leninist) also stood as candidates.

About the Riding

Burlington had a population of approximately 175,800 in the 2011 census. The median age was 41.8 years, slightly above the Ontario average, reflecting the city's established suburban character. English was reported as the sole mother tongue by about 81 percent of residents, with Polish, Spanish, and Italian the most common non-official languages, each at just over one percent.

The city occupies a strategic location near the geographic centre of the Golden Horseshoe, the densely populated corridor of over eight million people stretching from Niagara Falls to Oshawa. Leading employment sectors included food processing, packaging, electronics, motor vehicle and transportation manufacturing, business services, and chemical and pharmaceutical production. The Burlington GO Transit station connected commuters eastward to Toronto's Union Station. The Niagara Escarpment, a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve, rises through the city's southern reaches, providing an extensive trail and conservation network. Spencer Smith Park along the waterfront and the Royal Botanical Gardens were among the city's most prominent landmarks. Federal issues in Burlington heading into 2011 included waterfront development, environmental stewardship of the escarpment and Hamilton Harbour, and commuter transit improvements along the Lakeshore West GO corridor.