Kanata—Carleton

Kanata—Carleton is a sprawling riding of approximately 806 square kilometres on the western edge of the City of Ottawa. It bridges the suburban high-tech hub of Kanata—home to Canada’s largest technology park—and the rural communities of West Carleton, including Carp, Fitzroy Harbour, and Kinburn. Progressive Conservative Merrilee Fullerton won the seat in 2018, flipping it from the Liberals. Fullerton entered the 2022 campaign as a cabinet minister whose tenure as Minister of Long-Term Care during the COVID-19 pandemic had drawn intense scrutiny.

The riding’s population grew significantly during the term, with new suburban development in Kanata and Stittsville adding thousands of residents. This growth intensified the riding’s longstanding rural-suburban divide, as issues such as public transit, gun control, and development planning were viewed differently by suburban commuters in Kanata and rural residents in West Carleton.

Candidates

Merrilee Fullerton (Progressive Conservative) — A family physician who practiced medicine in the Ottawa area for 27 years, Fullerton holds a medical degree from the University of Ottawa. After her 2018 election, she served as Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities before being appointed Minister of Long-Term Care in 2019. She was shuffled to Minister of Children, Community and Social Services in June 2021.

Melissa Coenraad (NDP) — A public healthcare worker and labour leader who had called Kanata—Carleton home for 16 years, Coenraad served as Union President for OPSEU Local 475 and as a Regional Vice-President for OPSEU/SEFPO Region Four.

Shahbaz Syed (Liberal) — An international finance executive who immigrated to Canada in 2010, Syed held professional qualifications including CFA and MBA designations. He had lived in Kanata since 2014 with his family.

Also running were Pat Freel (Green Party), Jennifer Boudreau (New Blue Party), and Brian Chuipka (Ontario Party).

Local Issues

Fullerton’s record as Minister of Long-Term Care was a defining issue in the riding. Thousands of long-term care residents across Ontario died from COVID-19 during her time in the portfolio, and in April 2021, both the Auditor General of Ontario and the independent Long-Term Care COVID-19 Commission issued reports finding that the provincial government had reacted too slowly and that decades of underfunding had left the sector unprepared for the pandemic. Opposition parties had called for Fullerton’s resignation, though she pointed to chronic underfunding by previous governments as a root cause.

Healthcare access more broadly was a major concern for the riding’s residents. The Queensway Carleton Hospital, which serves much of Ottawa’s west end, faced capacity challenges, and a shortage of family physicians meant many residents in both the suburban and rural parts of the riding lacked primary care. The rapid pace of residential development in Kanata and Stittsville raised questions about whether healthcare, school, and transit infrastructure was keeping up with population growth.

Transportation remained a practical concern for commuters. While Ottawa’s Confederation Line LRT had opened in 2019, it did not extend to Kanata, leaving residents dependent on buses and cars to reach downtown Ottawa. Rural residents in West Carleton had virtually no public transit options. The rural-suburban divide also surfaced on issues like federal firearms legislation, where rural firearms owners and suburban families held divergent views.