Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes

Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes is a sprawling rural and semi-rural riding in eastern Ontario, encompassing the entirety of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville. The riding stretches along the north shore of the St. Lawrence River from Brockville to Gananoque and extends northward through the Rideau Lakes corridor toward Smiths Falls. Major communities include Brockville (population approximately 22,000), Gananoque, Prescott, Kemptville, Merrickville, and the villages dotting the Thousand Islands Parkway. With a population of roughly 104,000, the riding is predominantly English-speaking and largely white, with a notable Indigenous population of about 5.6%. The landscape is defined by the St. Lawrence River, the Thousand Islands archipelago—comprising over 1,800 islands—and the UNESCO World Heritage Rideau Canal, built between 1826 and 1832.

Candidates

Michael Barrett (Conservative) * — Born in 1984, Barrett served in the Canadian Armed Forces as a telecommunications lineman before entering local politics as a municipal councillor in Edwardsburgh Cardinal. He won a December 2018 by-election to succeed retiring MP Gord Brown and was re-elected in 2019. Barrett and his wife Amanda are raising five children in Leeds—Grenville.

Roberta L Abbott (Liberal) — Abbott is a former Department of National Defence intelligence analyst who served for 15 years, including a deployment to Afghanistan. After retiring from DND, she became a registered psychotherapist in Gananoque. She served on Gananoque Town Council from 2010 to 2014, focusing on downtown revitalization and economic development.

Michelle Taylor (NDP) — Taylor was a returning NDP candidate from the 2019 election. At the time of the 2021 campaign, she was pursuing law courses at Carleton University. She ran as a progressive voice in a traditionally Conservative riding and had campaigned both federally and provincially for the NDP.

Alex Cassell (PPC) — Cassell was raised in rural eastern Ontario and resides near where he grew up. A father of three, he built a successful business with his long-time partner in the eastern Ontario region over more than a decade. He ran on a platform emphasizing individual rights and smaller government.

About the Riding

The economy of Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes rests on three pillars: manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism. Brockville's industrial base includes major employers such as Procter & Gamble, 3M Canada, and Hershey Canada, while Brockville General Hospital provides over 1,300 jobs. Northern Cables employs approximately 300 workers, and the Upper Canada District School Board is another major employer with roughly 1,410 positions across the region. The average employment income in the riding was approximately $44,240 in 2020, well below the Ontario average of $52,600.

Tourism plays an outsized role in the local economy. The Thousand Islands—one of Ontario's premier destinations—draws visitors for boat cruises, Boldt Castle, the Thousand Islands Playhouse in Gananoque, and the scenic 40-kilometre Thousand Islands Parkway running along the St. Lawrence between Gananoque and Brockville. The Rideau Canal, connecting Kingston to Ottawa, supports recreational boating, cycling, and winter skating tourism. Two international bridges at Prescott–Ogdensburg and the Thousand Islands Bridge connect the riding to New York State.

Key federal issues in 2021 included broadband internet access and reliable cellular coverage in the riding's many rural areas, pandemic recovery for small businesses—particularly those dependent on cross-border tourism that had been decimated by border closures—and support for agricultural producers. Highway 401 and Highway 416 serve as critical transportation corridors, making logistics and distribution an emerging sector alongside the riding's traditional industries.