Chatham-Kent—Essex

Chatham-Kent—Essex stretches across the flat agricultural heartland of southwestern Ontario, encompassing the single-tier Municipality of Chatham-Kent and a portion of Essex County along the Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair shorelines. The riding's principal communities include the city of Chatham, the towns of Wallaceburg, Tilbury, Ridgetown, Blenheim, and Dresden, and the village of Wheatley near the Lake Erie shore. The riding covers approximately 2,458 square kilometres of some of the most productive farmland in Canada.

Candidates

Dave Van Kesteren (Conservative) — Van Kesteren was a small business owner who founded Van Kesteren Auto Sales, a Hyundai car dealership in Chatham, in 1987. He was a charter member of the Chatham Sunrise Rotary Club and past president of the Chatham Christian Business Association. After narrowly losing his first federal campaign in 2004, Van Kesteren was elected as the MP for Chatham-Kent—Essex in 2006 and re-elected in 2008. He sought a third term in 2011.

Ron Franko (NDP) — Franko was the NDP candidate for Chatham-Kent—Essex in the 2011 federal election.

Matt Daudlin (Liberal) — Daudlin had previously run as the Liberal candidate in the riding in the 2008 federal election.

Robert Hodgson (Green Party) also stood as a candidate.

About the Riding

Chatham-Kent had a population of approximately 104,000 in the 2011 census, a slight decline from 2006 that reflected broader trends of rural depopulation and aging in southwestern Ontario. The riding was roughly evenly divided between urban and rural voters, with both manufacturing and agriculture playing central roles in the local economy. The flat terrain of the Essex and Kent clay plains, enriched by the Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair climate, supported intensive crop production including corn, soybeans, wheat, and specialty vegetables. By 2011, greenhouse operations were expanding rapidly, with about 168 acres of greenhouses in the municipality, part of a broader southwestern Ontario trend toward year-round vegetable production.

Manufacturing and food processing were significant employers, with the H.J. Heinz plant in Leamington operating a major food processing facility in the riding. Wheatley was home to one of the world's largest freshwater commercial fishing ports. The Lower Thames River and the Sydenham River wind through the riding, and the Lake Erie shoreline provided both recreational and ecological value, with Point Pelee National Park located nearby in Essex County. Dresden was notable as the historic home of Josiah Henson, whose life inspired the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. Federal issues in the riding heading into 2011 included agricultural trade policy, support for the manufacturing sector in the aftermath of the 2008 recession, rural infrastructure, and the economic challenges of population decline in smaller communities.