Whitby—Oshawa

Whitby—Oshawa was a suburban riding in Durham Region, east of Toronto, consisting of the Town of Whitby and the northwestern section of the City of Oshawa. The riding stretched from the urbanized southern core of Whitby, along the Highway 401 corridor, northward into the more rural communities of Brooklin, Ashburn, and Myrtle. The Oshawa portion included the city's northwestern residential neighbourhoods lying north and west of a line running along King Street West, Oshawa Creek, Rossland Road, and Simcoe Street.

Candidates

Jim Flaherty (Conservative) — Flaherty was the incumbent MP and Canada's Minister of Finance, a position he had held since the Conservatives formed government in February 2006. Born in Lachine, Quebec, in 1949, he was the sixth of eight children. He attended Loyola High School in Montreal, where he played competitive hockey, and won a hockey scholarship to Princeton University, graduating cum laude with a degree in sociology in 1970. He earned a law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School at York University and practised law for two decades as a litigator, co-founding the firm Flaherty Dow Elliott. Flaherty entered Ontario provincial politics in 1995, winning a seat in the Legislative Assembly. He served in Premier Mike Harris's cabinet as Minister of Labour, Attorney General, and then Minister of Finance and Deputy Premier. He ran for the Ontario PC leadership in 2002, finishing behind Ernie Eves. He resigned his provincial seat in November 2005 to run federally in Whitby—Oshawa, winning the seat in January 2006. As federal Finance Minister, he oversaw reductions to the GST and personal and corporate income taxes, and introduced the Tax-Free Savings Account.

Trish McAuliffe (NDP) — McAuliffe was a community organizer and social activist based in the riding. She ran against Flaherty as the NDP candidate in 2011.

Trevor Bardens (Liberal) — Bardens was the Liberal candidate in Whitby—Oshawa.

Rebecca Harrison (Green Party) — Harrison was the Green Party candidate in the riding.

Josh Insang ran for the Libertarian Party.

About the Riding

The riding had a population of approximately 128,000 and was emblematic of the fast-growing suburban belt east of Toronto. Whitby, the riding's population centre, had experienced rapid residential growth as families moved eastward along the Highway 401 corridor in search of more affordable housing while maintaining commuting access to Toronto. The town's historic downtown along Dundas Street and Brock Street retained a small-town character, while newer subdivisions extended north and east. Brooklin, a formerly rural village within Whitby, was undergoing significant residential development.

The local economy was closely tied to the automotive industry. General Motors' Oshawa assembly complex, one of the company's largest operations in Canada, was a major regional employer whose supply chain supported thousands of additional jobs across Durham Region. The complex had weathered the 2008–2009 financial crisis, during which GM declared bankruptcy and received government bailout funding, but was recovering by 2011 with resumed production. Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences (formerly the Whitby Psychiatric Hospital) was another significant employer in the riding.

Durham Region was also home to the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT), which had opened in Oshawa in 2003 and was expanding its campus and programs. Many riding residents commuted to Toronto for work via Highway 401 and GO Transit rail service. Heading into 2011, the riding's concerns centred on the stability of automotive-sector employment, commuter transit improvements, and managing the infrastructure demands of suburban growth.