Nickel Belt

Nickel Belt is a sprawling federal riding that wraps around the northern, eastern, and western edges of the city of Greater Sudbury in northeastern Ontario. The riding takes in the former municipalities of Valley East, Rayside-Balfour, Onaping Falls, Capreol, Walden, and Coniston, communities that ring the Sudbury Basin — one of the world's richest mineral deposits. The landscape is defined by the Canadian Shield, with boreal forest, rock outcrops, and hundreds of lakes.

Candidates

Claude Gravelle (NDP) — A retired Inco employee and United Steelworkers member, Gravelle was rooted in the mining communities of the Sudbury region. He had served on the town council of Rayside-Balfour beginning in 1997 and later co-chaired the Rayside-Balfour community action network after municipal amalgamation created Greater Sudbury. He ran twice unsuccessfully for the Nickel Belt seat in 2004 and 2006 before winning it in 2008, and entered the 2011 campaign as the incumbent. During his first term, the lengthy Vale strike of 2009-2010 had been a defining issue, and Gravelle was recognized locally for his visible support of striking miners.

Lynne Reynolds (Conservative) — Reynolds was the Conservative candidate for Nickel Belt in the 2011 election, participating in candidate forums alongside other contenders on local issues including mining policy and the long-gun registry.

Joe Cormier (Liberal) — Cormier carried the Liberal banner in Nickel Belt for the 2011 campaign, engaging in local debates on economic issues facing the mining communities.

Christine Guillot-Proulx (Green Party) and Steve Rutchinski (Marxist-Leninist) also stood as candidates.

About the Riding

The riding's identity is inseparable from the mining industry. The Sudbury Basin, formed by a meteorite impact 1.85 billion years ago, contains vast deposits of nickel, copper, cobalt, platinum group metals, gold, and silver. Vale (formerly Inco) operates one of the world's largest integrated mining complexes in the area, with multiple mines, a mill, smelter, and refinery employing nearly 4,000 workers as of 2011. Xstrata Nickel (formerly Falconbridge) maintained a significant presence as well. The 2009-2010 Vale strike — lasting nearly a year and involving some 3,300 members of United Steelworkers Local 6500 — was the dominant local issue heading into the election, with concerns over the shift from defined-benefit to defined-contribution pensions and the broader implications of foreign ownership of resource companies. The riding's communities are largely francophone or bilingual, with Rayside-Balfour and Chelmsford having deep Franco-Ontarian roots. Beyond mining, the local economy includes forestry, services, and public-sector employment tied to Greater Sudbury's role as a regional hub. The long-gun registry was also a prominent campaign issue, reflecting the riding's mix of rural hunters and urban workers.