Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry

Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry sits in the southeastern corner of Ontario, stretching along the St. Lawrence River from the city of Cornwall eastward to the Quebec border. The riding encompasses the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry (excluding North Glengarry), including the municipalities of South Glengarry, South Stormont, South Dundas, North Dundas, and North Stormont, along with the separated city of Cornwall. The international border with New York State runs along the St. Lawrence, and the riding is linked to the United States via the Seaway International Bridge.

Candidates

Guy Lauzon (Conservative) — Lauzon was first elected in this riding in 2004, defeating long-time Liberal MP Bob Kilger, and was re-elected in 2006 and 2008. Before entering politics, he spent over twenty-two years in the federal public service and served as a local union president with the Public Service Alliance of Canada. After retiring from the public service in 1993, he became general manager of Tri-County Protein, a soybean processing plant in Winchester, Ontario. In the 40th Parliament, Lauzon served as chairman of the national Conservative caucus.

Bernadette Clement (Liberal) — Clement was a bilingual lawyer based in Cornwall who had worked at the Roy McMurtry Legal Clinic for nearly two decades, advocating for injured workers and marginalized community members. She was first elected to Cornwall City Council in 2006 and re-elected in 2010, earning top vote totals both times. She also taught ethics and legalities to health care students at St. Lawrence College from 2001 to 2005. The 2011 campaign was her first run for federal office.

Mario Leclerc (NDP) — Leclerc ran as the NDP candidate in the riding. He was a local political activist who would go on to contest subsequent elections in the area.

Wyatt Joseph Walsh (Green Party) and Darcy Neal Donnelly (Libertarian) also stood as candidates.

About the Riding

Cornwall, with a population of roughly 46,000, is the riding's urban centre and a bilingual city with deep Franco-Ontarian roots, where roughly a third of residents speak French. The city had historically been a manufacturing hub, but the closure of the Domtar fine papers mill in 2006 and earlier losses in the textile industry reshaped the local economy. By 2011, health care and social assistance had become the leading employment sector, with Cornwall Community Hospital and related services among the largest employers. Manufacturing remained significant, with food processing and light industrial operations in the Cornwall Business Park.

The rural portions of the riding are predominantly agricultural, with dairy farming, cash crops, and cattle operations dominating the landscape of Dundas and Glengarry counties. The St. Lawrence River corridor supports tourism and recreation, and the riding's proximity to Montreal and Ottawa positions it as a logistics and distribution corridor. The Cornwall campus of St. Lawrence College provides post-secondary education and workforce training.

Key issues heading into 2011 included economic diversification following the loss of major manufacturing employers, bilingual service delivery, agricultural support, cross-border trade with the United States, and infrastructure investment for rural communities across the three counties.