Cambridge

Cambridge is a mid-sized city in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo in southwestern Ontario, formed in 1973 from the amalgamation of the historic communities of Galt, Preston, and Hespeler along the Grand River and its Speed River tributary. The riding also includes the Township of North Dumfries to the south. Cambridge sits about 100 kilometres west of Toronto, at the southern end of the Waterloo Region technology corridor.

Candidates

Gary Goodyear (Conservative) — Raised and educated in Cambridge, Goodyear attended the University of Waterloo before graduating cum laude from the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College, where he served as class president and valedictorian. He established a full-time chiropractic practice in Cambridge in 1984 and spent two decades in clinical work, also serving on the post-graduate faculty at the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College from 1988 to 1994, specializing in sports injury diagnostics. He held a fellowship from the Royal College of Chiropractic Sports Sciences. First elected as the MP for Cambridge in 2004, Goodyear was appointed Minister of State for Science and Technology in the Harper government. He sought a fourth term in 2011.

Susan Galvao (NDP) — Galvao was the NDP candidate for Cambridge in the 2011 federal election.

Bryan May (Liberal) — May had spent much of his career in the non-profit sector, working in senior management roles at the YMCA and the Boys and Girls Club in Cambridge. He served on the committee for the Oxford Active Living and Youth Action Plan and was Executive Treasurer of the Social Planning Council of Cambridge and North Dumfries, an organization focused on community data analysis and poverty reduction. The 2011 federal election was May's first campaign for public office.

Jacques Malette (Green Party) and Manuel Couto (Marxist-Leninist) also stood as candidates.

About the Riding

Cambridge had a population of approximately 126,750 in the 2011 census, a 5.3 percent increase from 2006. The median age was 38 years, younger than the Ontario average. The three founding communities retain distinct identities: Galt, the largest, centres on a well-preserved Victorian downtown along the Grand River; Preston features a mix of older residential neighbourhoods and industrial lands; and Hespeler maintains a small-town character to the northeast.

Manufacturing was the riding's dominant economic sector, employing about 20 percent of the local workforce. Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, which opened its Cambridge plant in 1988, was the city's largest single employer with approximately 4,500 workers. The auto sector and its supply chain anchored a broader manufacturing base that also included food processing, plastics, and metal fabrication. The Grand River, a Canadian Heritage River, winds through the city and supported conservation and recreation activities. Highway 401 provides the primary east-west transportation link, while Highway 8 connects Cambridge to the Kitchener-Waterloo urban area to the north. Federal issues heading into 2011 included support for the manufacturing sector amid a still-recovering economy, infrastructure investment, and environmental protection of the Grand River watershed.