Cambridge

Cambridge is a mid-sized city in the Region of Waterloo, formed from the amalgamation of Galt, Preston, and Hespeler in 1973. With a population of approximately 144,000 as of 2022, the city has a strong manufacturing base, anchored by Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada’s two local plants that employed roughly 6,000 workers. The riding entered the 2022 election without a sitting PC MPP — the previous representative, Belinda Karahalios, had been ejected from the Progressive Conservative caucus in July 2020 for voting against Bill 195, which would have allowed the government to extend emergency powers for up to two years without consulting the legislature. Karahalios and her husband Jim subsequently co-founded the New Blue Party of Ontario, and she ran under that banner in 2022.

The open seat drew a competitive multi-candidate field, with the PCs nominating Brian Riddell, a longtime Cambridge resident with a background in business and education.

Candidates

Brian Riddell (Progressive Conservative) — Born in Galt, Riddell has lived in Cambridge his entire life. He held senior management and engineering positions at Bridgestone Canada and Michelin Canada over a career spanning more than 30 years. He graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University, the University of Chicago, and Conestoga College, and prior to his election served as a Creative Industries professor at Conestoga College. He was active in Cambridge’s Arts and Culture Board and coached baseball and ski racing locally for decades.

Marjorie Knight (NDP) — Knight is a longtime Cambridge resident, anti-poverty advocate, and community outreach worker. She serves on the boards of the Cambridge Shelter Corp and ACCKWA, and works as a Family Outreach Worker with the House of Friendship in Cambridge. She had run a competitive NDP campaign in 2018, finishing within four percentage points of winning.

Surekha Shenoy (Liberal) — Shenoy is a business professional and community advocate who has lived in Cambridge for nearly 30 years. She served as past chair and director of the Cambridge Memorial Hospital Foundation and currently sits on the board of Hospice Waterloo Region. She co-chairs the East Indian Community Walkathon of Waterloo Region and has volunteered with the Self Help Food Bank and the Trinity Community Table.

Belinda Karahalios (New Blue Party) — Karahalios was the sitting MPP for Cambridge, though she had been removed from the PC caucus in 2020 and finished her term as a member of the New Blue Party. She was the only PC MPP to vote against Bill 195, the emergency powers extension legislation, stating it would silence MPPs on the most important issue facing the legislature.

Carla Johnson ran as the Green Party candidate.

Local Issues

The controversial warehouse development in the historic village of Blair was a high-profile local issue heading into the election. The provincial government had issued a Minister’s Zoning Order (MZO) in 2021 to fast-track a 100,000-square-metre warehouse project on Old Mill Road by Broccolini Real Estate Group. Fifty delegates spoke against the project at council, with residents and Six Nations representatives raising concerns about heritage impacts, environmental damage, and lack of consultation. Cambridge council initially voted to halt the project in March 2022 by rejecting the required heritage and transportation studies, but in May 2022, council reversed course and approved the studies, effectively restarting the project. The MZO controversy became a symbol of tensions between provincial development ambitions and local community planning.

Affordability was a significant concern in Cambridge. As a more affordable alternative to Kitchener-Waterloo, the city attracted new residents, driving up housing costs. The NDP’s Knight emphasized anti-poverty issues and the need for more affordable housing. Healthcare staffing and the broader impacts of Bill 124 on public-sector workers were also debated, with Cambridge Memorial Hospital facing the same recruitment challenges seen across Ontario.

The presence of four competitive candidates — with the New Blue Party’s Karahalios drawing support from voters opposed to pandemic restrictions — made Cambridge one of the more fragmented races in the province, with the right-of-centre vote split between the PCs and New Blue.