Haldimand—Norfolk

Haldimand—Norfolk is a large rural riding in southern Ontario, stretching along the north shore of Lake Erie from the Niagara Peninsula westward. It encompasses all of Norfolk County and most of Haldimand County, with population centres including Simcoe, Caledonia, Dunnville, Port Dover, Delhi, Cayuga, Hagersville, and Waterford. The riding covers approximately 3,070 square kilometres of flat to gently rolling agricultural land.

Candidates

Diane Finley (Conservative) — The incumbent MP, first elected in 2004 and re-elected in 2006 and 2008. Raised in Port Dover and Charlotteville in Norfolk County, Finley held a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Western Ontario. She was a senior cabinet minister in the Harper government, having served as Minister of Human Resources and Social Development from 2006, then as Minister of Citizenship and Immigration from January 2007, before returning to the Human Resources and Skills Development portfolio after her 2008 re-election. Her husband was Doug Finley, the Conservative Party's national campaign director and later a senator.

Bob Speller (Liberal) — A former Liberal MP who had represented the area from 1988 to 2004, winning four consecutive elections. During his time in Parliament, Speller served as Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food from 2003 to 2004. He was defeated by Finley in 2004 and had run unsuccessfully against her again in 2006 before making another attempt in 2011.

Ian Nichols (NDP) and Anne Faulkner (Green Party) also ran. Steven Elgersma stood for the Christian Heritage Party.

About the Riding

Haldimand—Norfolk is defined by agriculture. Norfolk County sits on the Norfolk Sand Plain in the Carolinian Life Zone, with sandy loam soils considered among the most fertile in Ontario. The county leads the province in the production of asparagus, ginseng, peppers, sweet potatoes, sour cherries, and several other specialty crops. Tobacco farming, once the dominant industry in the Delhi and Simcoe areas, had been in steep decline for decades, and the transition to alternative crops and economic diversification was an ongoing local challenge.

The riding's population was approximately 107,000. The Stelco Lake Erie Works steel mill at Nanticoke, in operation since 1980, was a major industrial employer, with approximately 1,400 workers and an estimated contribution of 25 percent of Haldimand County's economic activity. Ontario Power Generation's Nanticoke Generating Station, once the largest coal-fired power plant in North America, was adjacent to the steel mill, though it was in the process of being phased out under the provincial government's coal elimination plan.

Port Dover, on Lake Erie, is a popular tourist destination and fishing village. Caledonia, in the northeastern corner of the riding, had been the site of a prolonged land dispute involving the Six Nations of the Grand River since 2006, when members of Six Nations occupied a housing development on land they claimed was never properly ceded. The dispute remained unresolved heading into 2011 and was a significant local concern. Highway 6 runs north–south through Haldimand County, while Highway 3 traverses Norfolk County east–west along the Lake Erie shore.