Simcoe—Grey

Simcoe—Grey is a large, predominantly rural riding spanning parts of Simcoe County and Grey County in central Ontario. It stretches from the southern shores of Georgian Bay inland through the Blue Mountains ski country, taking in the towns of Collingwood, Wasaga Beach, Stayner, Alliston (within New Tecumseth), and Angus, as well as smaller communities such as Creemore, Flesherton, and Markdale.

Candidates

Kellie Leitch (Conservative) — Leitch was a pediatric orthopedic surgeon who had practised at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and had chaired pediatric surgery at the Children’s Hospital of Western Ontario in London. She also held an MBA from Dalhousie University and had served as assistant dean at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, as well as founding chair of the Ivey Centre for Health Innovation and Leadership at Western’s Ivey Business School. She was seeking election for the first time as the Conservative nominee.

Katy Austin (NDP) — Austin was a long-time NDP activist in the riding who had been involved with the party in federal and provincial elections since the 1970s. She served on the riding association executive for a decade and was its president heading into the 2011 campaign.

Helena Guergis (Independent) — Guergis was the incumbent, first elected in 2004 by a margin of just 100 votes, and re-elected in 2006 and 2008. A businesswoman and former provincial political adviser, she was appointed Minister of State for the Status of Women in 2008. In April 2010, she was removed from cabinet and expelled from the Conservative caucus amid unspecified allegations that were referred to the RCMP. The RCMP subsequently concluded there was no evidence of criminal wrongdoing, but Guergis was not readmitted to caucus. She ran in 2011 as an unaffiliated independent.

Alex Smardenka (Liberal) — Smardenka ran as the Liberal candidate in the riding.

Jace Metheral represented the Green Party, Peter Vander Zaag ran for the Christian Heritage Party, and Gord Cochrane ran for the Canadian Action Party.

About the Riding

Simcoe—Grey covered approximately 2,500 square kilometres of rolling farmland, small towns, and resort communities. The riding’s northern reaches along Georgian Bay—particularly Collingwood and the Blue Mountains—had become a major four-season recreational destination, anchored by the Blue Mountain Resort and a growing base of condominium developments catering to visitors from the Greater Toronto Area. Wasaga Beach, home to the world’s longest freshwater beach, was another tourism draw and one of Ontario’s fastest-growing communities.

The southern part of the riding had a more industrial and agricultural character. Alliston, in the Town of New Tecumseth, was home to a Honda Canada manufacturing plant, one of the riding’s largest private-sector employers. The surrounding countryside supported cattle, grain, and mixed farming operations.

CFB Borden, one of the Canadian Forces’ largest training bases, was located in the riding near the community of Angus. The base was a major local employer and gave the riding a significant military population. Issues of veterans’ services, military housing, and base infrastructure were locally important.

The riding’s population was growing, driven by both retirement migration to the Georgian Bay communities and commuter settlement in the southern towns within reach of the GTA. Health care access—particularly the availability of family physicians and hospital services in smaller communities—was a persistent local concern, along with rural broadband infrastructure and agricultural policy.