Chatham-Kent—Leamington

Chatham-Kent—Leamington sprawls across more than 2,400 square kilometres of flat, fertile land in the southernmost reaches of Ontario, anchored by the municipality of Chatham-Kent and the town of Leamington along the northern shore of Lake Erie. The riding takes in the former City of Chatham, the fishing port of Wheatley—the largest freshwater commercial fishing harbour in the world—and Point Pelee National Park, the southernmost point of mainland Canada. It also includes Pelee Island in Lake Erie and the Eelūnaapèewii Lahkèewiit (Delaware Nation at Moraviantown). The Thames River winds through the northern portion of the riding, draining into Lake St. Clair beyond the riding's western boundary.

Agriculture is the economic backbone of the riding. The region's rich soils and temperate microclimate—moderated by Lake Erie—support a robust farming sector producing corn, soybeans, tomatoes, and sugar beets across more than 2,000 farms. Leamington and neighbouring Kingsville are collectively known as the "Greenhouse Capital of Canada," with hundreds of acres of glass and plastic-covered greenhouses producing tomatoes, peppers, and cannabis year-round.

Candidates

Dave Epp (Conservative) — A third-generation Leamington farmer, Epp holds a Bachelor of Theology and grows processing vegetables and cash crops on the family operation. Before his election in 2019 he served as Ontario and Quebec Regional Representative for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank and held leadership roles with Agricorp, the Ontario Process Vegetable Growers, and the Ontario Tomato Research Institute. He also served on the Leamington Flyers Hockey Club Board of Directors and the Municipal Committee of Adjustment. A former single-engine pilot, he lives in Leamington with his wife Charlene; they have four daughters.

Greg Hetherington (Liberal) — Born and raised on a farm in Chatham-Kent, Hetherington built a career in broadcasting—starting at CFCO radio in 1986 and later hosting the morning show at CKSY Radio for more than twenty years. He is the primary owner of Five Amigos Broadcasting, which operates CKXS FM in Wallaceburg and other stations in Ontario. A lifelong resident of the riding, he served on the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance Foundation Board for more than twenty years and the Children's Treatment Centre Board for a decade, helping raise millions of dollars for both organizations.

Dan Gelinas (NDP) — Born in Windsor and a resident of Wheatley for 26 years, Gelinas is a retired autoworker who has been organizing for the NDP since the late 1970s, participating in more than forty federal, provincial, and municipal campaigns across Canada. He is a board member of the Windsor Emancipation Day Committee and a member of the CCRetirees of FCA Canada. He previously ran as the provincial NDP candidate in Chatham-Kent—Essex in 2014.

Liz Vallee (PPC) — Born and raised in Chatham-Kent, Vallee is a personal trainer and competitive powerlifter who has competed at the local, provincial, and national levels. She entered politics in 2021 after becoming involved in local protests against pandemic lockdown measures and ran on a platform of limited government and free speech.

About the Riding

Chatham-Kent—Leamington is a reliably Conservative riding, reflecting the political preferences of its rural and small-town electorate. Agricultural policy—including trade agreements, crop insurance, and temporary foreign worker programs that supply labour to greenhouses and farms—ranks among the most pressing local issues in any election cycle.

The riding has also grappled with environmental and infrastructure concerns. Flooding along the Thames River and erosion along the Lake Erie shoreline have caused property damage and raised questions about climate adaptation. Wheatley was rocked in 2021 by a series of hydrogen sulphide gas leaks and an explosion in the town's downtown core, displacing residents and businesses and leaving parts of the community evacuated for an extended period.

Point Pelee National Park and the surrounding marshlands are internationally recognized for birdwatching—the park sits along two major migratory flyways—and ecotourism contributes to the local economy alongside agriculture and food processing. The Highbury Canco food processing plant in Leamington, which took over the former Heinz facility after the company's departure in 2014, remains one of the riding's largest employers.