Huron—Bruce

Huron—Bruce is a large rural riding along the eastern shore of Lake Huron that includes the towns of Goderich, Kincardine, Wingham, and Teeswater, as well as the surrounding agricultural countryside of Huron and Bruce counties. The local economy is anchored by agriculture—particularly dairy, beef, and cash crops—and by the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station near Kincardine, which is one of the world’s largest nuclear power facilities and a major regional employer. Progressive Conservative Lisa Thompson had held the riding since her first election in 2011, and the seat had been a reliable Conservative stronghold for decades. Thompson entered the 2022 campaign seeking her fourth consecutive term.

After the PC victory in 2018, Thompson was initially appointed Minister of Education, a role she held during contentious negotiations with teachers’ unions before being shuffled to other portfolios. In June 2021, she was appointed Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, a portfolio closely aligned with the riding’s agricultural base.

Candidates

Lisa Thompson (Progressive Conservative) — A University of Guelph graduate and dairy goat farmer from Teeswater in Bruce County, Thompson previously served as General Manager of the Ontario Dairy Goat Cooperative and as a rural community advisor for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture. She served as Minister of Education from 2018 to 2019 and became Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs in 2021.

Shelley Blackmore (Liberal) — A retired educator with 31 years of teaching and school administration experience with the Avon Maitland District School Board, Blackmore had lived in Howick Township in Huron County for more than two decades. She served as a foster parent with the Huron Perth Children’s Aid Society and sat on the board of the Huron Perth Centre for Youth and Children.

Laurie Hazzard (NDP) — A registered nurse turned educator and digital learning specialist, Hazzard had nursing experience at Weeneebayko General Hospital in Moose Factory and the Children’s Hospital of Western Ontario. She later created the first online public secondary school in Ontario and spent 14 years developing digital learning tools for Ontario schools. A resident of Bayfield for 25 years, she was active in local environmental and community organizations.

Also running were Matt Kennedy (New Blue Party), Matthew Van Ankum (Green Party), Gerrie Huenemoerder (Ontario Party), Ronald Stephens (Independent), and Bruce Eisen (Ontario Alliance).

Local Issues

Rural broadband access was arguably the most pressing issue in Huron—Bruce during the 2018–2022 term. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the severity of the connectivity gap, with families in some parts of the riding having to drive to fast-food parking lots so their children could download schoolwork over Wi-Fi. The provincial and federal governments invested in broadband expansion through Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology (SWIFT), bringing high-speed internet to hundreds of homes, farms, and businesses in the region, but many rural properties remained unserved.

Healthcare access was a major concern for residents across the riding. A shortage of family physicians left many residents without a primary care provider, and recruitment of doctors and nurses to rural communities proved persistently difficult. Local hospitals in towns like Goderich, Kincardine, and Wingham faced staffing shortages that strained their ability to maintain services. Candidates at all-candidates meetings debated proposals to attract healthcare professionals to rural areas, including tuition incentives for doctors and nurse practitioners willing to practice in underserved communities.

Protection of agricultural land and the future of farming were constant themes at campaign events. The Bruce County Federation of Agriculture hosted all-candidates meetings where issues such as farmland preservation, aggregate extraction, and rural infrastructure investment were debated. Meanwhile, the Bruce Power nuclear facility continued to plan for refurbishment and potential expansion, a prospect that carried significant economic implications for the entire region.