Liberal Leader Mark Carney has chosen to run in one of the fastest-growing communities in Canada.
Saturday night, on the eve of his formal announcement that the federal election will be held April 28, the Liberal party posted that Carney will run in the riding of Nepean, which includes the portion of Barrhaven that lies west of Prince of Wales Drive.
“Ottawa is where Mark Carney raised his family, dedicated his career to public service and always gave back to his country,” the Liberal party posted on X, formerly Twitter. “This next election will be one of the most consequential of our lifetimes. Let’s get to work.”
According to Elections Canada, Barbara Bal is running for the Conservatives and Yan Mo Maneechai is running for the People’s Party of Canada in the seat.
Technically, Carney – the former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor – has been living outside of Nepean, in Rockliffe Park. However, Nepean is considered a relatively safe Liberal riding, even if there’s a measure of controversy over how he landed in the spot to run in an election for the first time.
Chandra Arya won the seat relatively easily in the 2015, 2019 and 2021 elections and had previously been nominated to run again in the riding. On Thursday, though, the Liberal party told Arya that his candidacy for the election had been revoked.
In a social media post, Arya posted a letter from the Liberal Party of Canada that said it had conducted a thorough review of his eligibility, and “after careful consideration, based on a review of new information … the national campaign co-chair is recommending the revocation of your status as a candidate.”
Earlier this year, Arya was disqualified for competing in the Liberal leadership race to replace Justin Trudeau. Arya had argued that it wasn’t necessary for him to speak French in order to lead the party.
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Carney subsequently won the leadership — and became interim Prime Minister — by a convincing margin on March 9.
Among the many intriguing elements of the upcoming election is the fact that Carney’s Nepean riding is bordered on the south and east by the Carleton riding, where Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is aiming to win an eighth consecutive election.
Before Saturday’s announcement, there had been considerable speculation that Carney could choose to run in Alberta. He grew up in Edmonton.
Earlier in the week, he skated in practice with the Edmonton Oilers, giving rise to the idea that he may seek a seat somewhere in the province.
As for the Nepean riding, it’s largely urban, with a southern border extending beyond Barrhaven. The Highway 416 serves as much of its western edge. On the northwest corner of the riding, Highway 417 serves as a border, but an east-west railway line running between Baseline and West Hunt club roads serves as a divider to the neighbouring Ottawa West-Nepean riding.
Since the 2021 election, there have been some small changes to the riding’s boundaries. Parts of Bells Corners have been moved to the Kanata and Ottawa-West ridings.
Nepean is generally considered a family-centric riding. According to the 2021 census, the median income was $50,400 and average income was $62,200.
Arya has had little trouble winning Nepean during the previous three elections.
In 2021, he received 45.1 per cent of the vote, compared to 33.7 for Conservative Matt Triemstra and 16.4 per cent for the NDP’s Sean Devine, who currently serves on Ottawa City Council in the Knoxdale-Merivale ward.
Two years earlier, the numbers were remarkably similar. Arya garnered 45.9 per cent of the count. Liberal candidate Brian St. Louis was favoured by 33.5 of Nepean voters, followed by Zaff Ansari of the NDP with 13.1 per cent.
In 2015, when the Nepean riding was reinstated by Elections Canada, Arya was part of the wave of Justin Trudeaumania, winning an outright majority. He captured 52.4 per cent of the riding’s votes, well ahead of Andy Wang of the Conservatives (36.1 per cent) and Devine (8.2 per cent) of the NDP.
The riding, originally established in 1987, has gone through many changes over the years, but it has remained strongly Liberal throughout.
Beryl Gaffney owned the seat from 1988-97, but the riding was then abolished, with the pieces redistributed between Nepean-Carleton and Ottawa-West Nepean.
Elections Canada reinstated Nepean in 2012, adding a chunk of the former Nepean-Carleton riding.
kwarren@postmedia.com
X: Citizenkwarren
