Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry

Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry is a large eastern Ontario riding along the north shore of the St. Lawrence River, stretching from the Quebec border westward through the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry. The city of Cornwall, with roughly half the riding’s population, serves as the urban centre, while the surrounding landscape is predominantly rural, taking in the townships of South Glengarry, North Stormont, South Stormont, North Dundas, and South Dundas, as well as communities like Winchester, Chesterville, Morrisburg, and Finch. Longtime PC MPP Jim McDonell, who had held the seat since 2011 and won each of his elections by commanding margins, announced in November 2021 that he would retire, creating an open race for the first time in over a decade.

Candidates

Nolan Quinn (Progressive Conservative) — Born and raised in Cornwall as the youngest of five children, Quinn graduated from St. Joseph’s Secondary School and earned a diploma in Business Management and Human Resources from St. Lawrence College. He began his career in human resource management at Saint Elizabeth Health Care before returning to manage Dairy Queen Cornwall, a franchise he operated for 15 years. He volunteered with the United Way, the Children’s Treatment Centre, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and the Cornwall Community Hospital Foundation, and served on the Canadian Franchise Advisory Council for Dairy Queen Canada representing Eastern and Northern Ontario.

Kirsten J. Gardner (Liberal) — The Deputy Mayor of South Dundas, Gardner had a career in public service spanning municipal, provincial, and federal government roles. She volunteered on the Parent Council of Morrisburg Public School and was recognized for advocating for rural education reform at the county level. She was acclaimed as the Liberal candidate in April 2022.

Wendy Stephen (NDP) — The NDP candidate for the riding in 2022.

Claude Tardif (New Blue Party), Jacqueline Milner (Green Party), and Remi Tremblay (Ontario Party) also ran.

Local Issues

Rural infrastructure dominated the campaign in this largely agricultural riding. Municipal politicians expressed concerns about the ability to fund the replacement of aging infrastructure—particularly wastewater treatment plants in communities like Ingleside and Glen Walter—without assistance from higher levels of government. Reliable high-speed internet remained unavailable in many rural parts of the riding, a gap that the pandemic had made painfully apparent for families relying on remote schooling and businesses trying to operate online.

Rural education was another prominent issue. Candidates and community advocates argued that students in smaller communities deserved the same opportunities as those in large cities, and the potential closure or consolidation of rural schools was a persistent worry. Gardner, in particular, made rural education reform a central theme of her campaign, building on her advocacy at the county level.

Economic development and the riding’s manufacturing base also drew attention. The region had documented strengths in agri-food processing, bio-products manufacturing, and distribution. Cornwall’s strategic location on the St. Lawrence and its proximity to the Quebec and US borders positioned it as a logistics hub, but attracting new investment and retaining young workers in a riding with an aging population required provincial support for workforce training and transportation links.