St. Catharines

St. Catharines is centred on the city of the same name in the Niagara Region of southern Ontario, situated on the Lake Ontario plain approximately 50 kilometres south of Toronto across the lake. The city sits at the northern entrance of the Welland Canal, the critical shipping corridor connecting Lake Ontario to Lake Erie, and lies 19 kilometres inland from the Niagara River and the international border with the United States.

Candidates

Rick Dykstra (Conservative) — Dykstra was the incumbent, first elected in 2006 and re-elected in 2008. Born in Grimsby, Ontario, he held a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Brock University and a Master's Certificate in Project Management from York University. He served on St. Catharines City Council from 1991 to 1997, representing St. Patrick's ward and chairing the Standing Committee on Finance for five of those years. He ran for mayor of St. Catharines in 1997, finishing second. He then served for twelve years as president of Dykstra Landscaping, a family business, before working in the Ontario provincial government from 1998 to 2002, where he served as a senior policy advisor and as chief of staff to the Minister of Community and Social Services.

Mike Williams (NDP) — Williams stood as the NDP candidate for St. Catharines, seeking to capitalize on the NDP's growing support in the Niagara Region.

Andrew Gill (Liberal) — Gill was a Niagara Regional firefighter and station captain who had served on St. Catharines City Council from 2006 to 2010. He brought both frontline emergency services experience and municipal government background to his candidacy.

Jennifer Mooradian (Green Party) — Mooradian was the Green Party candidate. She had ties to Brock University, where she was involved in research related to health sciences and sport management.

Dave Bylsma also stood for the Christian Heritage Party and Saleh Waziruddin for the Communist Party.

About the Riding

St. Catharines is the most populous city in the Niagara Region, with a population of approximately 131,400 at the time of the 2011 census. The city's economy had historically been anchored by heavy manufacturing, most notably the General Motors powertrain plant, which at its peak employed close to 10,000 workers. By 2011, GM's presence had been drastically reduced, and the resulting job losses had reshaped the city's economic landscape. The former GM properties were classified as contaminated brownfield sites awaiting redevelopment.

Brock University, founded in 1964, is a major institutional employer and economic driver, bringing thousands of students and faculty to the city. The Welland Canal, which passes approximately 3,000 ships carrying around 40 million tonnes of cargo annually, remains a vital piece of commercial infrastructure and a source of transportation-sector employment. The broader Niagara Region's wine industry and proximity to Niagara Falls support a tourism sector that was growing in importance.

The city also serves as a regional hub for health care through the Niagara Health System's St. Catharines hospital. Key federal issues in 2011 included the economic transition from manufacturing to service and knowledge industries, brownfield remediation of former industrial sites, infrastructure investment in the aging canal system, and support for post-secondary education as a pillar of economic renewal.