Dufferin—Caledon

Dufferin—Caledon is a federal riding northwest of Toronto, encompassing all of Dufferin County and the northern portion of the Town of Caledon in Peel Region. The riding includes the towns of Orangeville, Shelburne, and Grand Valley, as well as the townships of Mono, Amaranth, East Garafraxa, Melancthon, and Mulmur. Covering approximately 2,293 square kilometres, it is a predominantly rural and small-town riding on the edge of the Greater Toronto Area.

Candidates

David Tilson (Conservative) — Tilson was the incumbent MP, first elected in Dufferin—Caledon in 2004. A lawyer by profession, he was educated at the University of New Brunswick and Queen's University and began practising law in Orangeville in 1970. Before entering federal politics, Tilson served as a Progressive Conservative member of the Ontario legislature from 1990 to 2002, representing the riding of Dufferin—Peel. In Parliament, he served as a backbench MP and was active on several committees.

Ard Van Leeuwen (Green Party) — Van Leeuwen was the Green Party candidate in Dufferin—Caledon. He had also run as the Green candidate in the riding in the 2008 federal election and participated in provincial campaigns in the area. Dufferin—Caledon was notable as the only riding in Canada in 2011 where the Green Party finished second.

Leslie Parsons (NDP) — Parsons was the New Democratic Party candidate in Dufferin—Caledon for the 2011 election.

Bill Prout (Liberal) — Prout was the Liberal candidate in Dufferin—Caledon. He had also previously run as a Liberal candidate in the riding.

About the Riding

Dufferin—Caledon is a largely rural riding defined by its agricultural heritage and its position at the headwaters of four major Ontario river systems: the Credit, Humber, Nottawasaga, and Grand. The Niagara Escarpment and the Oak Ridges Moraine traverse the riding, making it a landscape of ecological significance with protected greenbelts and conservation areas. Orangeville, the county seat of Dufferin and the riding's largest community with a population of approximately 28,000 in 2011, serves as the commercial and service hub for the surrounding agricultural townships. Shelburne, to the north, was one of Ontario's fastest-growing small towns, driven by its relative affordability compared to the GTA. The Town of Caledon, sometimes called the greenest town in Ontario, includes the villages of Bolton, Caledon East, Palgrave, Inglewood, and Belfountain. Agriculture, particularly cattle and cash crop farming, remains central to the local economy in the northern townships, while the southern portions of the riding increasingly served as bedroom communities for commuters to the GTA. Local issues included managing growth pressures from GTA expansion, protecting agricultural land and water sources, rural transportation, and the impact of aggregate extraction operations in Caledon.