Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston

Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston is an expansive rural riding in eastern Ontario that includes all of Lanark County and the portion of Frontenac County north of Highway 401, wrapping around the City of Kingston without including it. The riding's principal communities are Perth, Smiths Falls, Carleton Place, Almonte, and the villages of Westport, Sharbot Lake, and Sydenham. Almonte, with a population of approximately 6,098 in the 2021 census, is the birthplace of James Naismith, the inventor of basketball. The riding's population is predominantly white (90.5 per cent), with Indigenous peoples comprising 6.6 per cent. The median income was $44,400, with English spoken by 92 per cent of residents.

Candidates

Scott Reid (Conservative) * First elected in 2000 as a member of the Canadian Alliance, Reid has represented the area for over two decades. Born in Hull, Quebec, in 1964, he holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Master of Arts in Russian History from Carleton University. Before entering politics, he worked as an author, journalist, researcher, and lecturer, publishing two books in the 1990s on Canadian federalism and bilingualism. He was a key negotiator during the merger of the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative parties in 2003 and served as Stephen Harper's primary Ontario organizer during the 2002 Alliance leadership contest.

Michelle Foxton (Liberal) A lawyer and per diem Crown Attorney with over 25 years operating her own practice, Foxton holds a B.A. from Queen's University and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Windsor. She previously served as a Loughborough Township councillor on the first South Frontenac Council from 1998 to 2001 and has volunteered extensively with the Fort Henry Guard Foundation and the Hartington Community Association. She lives near Hartington with her husband.

Steve Garrison (NDP) An elementary school teacher at St. Paul Elementary School in Kingston and a former Kingston city councillor who served from 2002 to 2010, Garrison has over two decades of experience in education. He is an executive member of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association and Secretary of the Kingston and District Labour Council.

Florian Bors (PPC) An IT professional holding bachelor's degrees in computer science and software engineering and a master's degree in engineering specializing in computer networking, Bors lives in the riding with his wife, Heather, and their five children. He was motivated to enter politics by concerns that arose during the COVID-19 pandemic.

About the Riding

Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston is known as the Maple Syrup Capital of Ontario, and agriculture, forestry, and food production form a key part of its economic base. The riding's small towns each carry distinct identities: Perth, founded in 1816, is recognized for its heritage stone architecture and artisan culture; Carleton Place, on the Mississippi River, has grown as a commuter community for Ottawa; and Almonte has reinvented itself as a destination for artists, independent retailers, and heritage tourism.

Smiths Falls experienced a significant economic transformation after Canopy Growth established its headquarters in the town's former Hershey chocolate factory, making it one of Canada's largest cannabis production facilities. By 2021, Canopy Growth employed roughly 1,200 people locally, and the town's population grew by more than five per cent between 2016 and 2021, with 43 new businesses opening in 2021 alone. The cannabis industry's emergence offset some of the economic damage from earlier plant closures and provided an unexpected lifeline for the community.

Health care and social services, retail trade, and construction are the riding's largest employment sectors, and about 53 per cent of the workforce holds post-secondary education. Cost of living and housing affordability were growing concerns in 2021, particularly in communities like Carleton Place and Almonte that have attracted new residents from Ottawa and the Greater Toronto Area, pushing property values beyond the reach of many local families.

The riding's political character is deeply conservative—Scott Reid has held the seat since 2000, and the area has sent Conservative or Progressive Conservative members to Parliament for generations. The blend of small-town values, agricultural traditions, and a growing base of commuters and retirees gives Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston a stable but gradually evolving political landscape.