The Liberal Leader has a résumé that practically screams ‘Not from Nepean.’ His Conservative rival, on the other hand, has a long history in the area.
Voters in the Ottawa riding of Nepean find themselves in an interesting situation in this federal election. Usually, they are peripheral players, three times electing Chandra Arya, a backbench Liberal. Now, Nepean voters will have a significant say over the political trajectory of Mark Carney, Canada’s current prime minister and Liberal Party leader.
Carney’s substantial support in national polls and the riding’s recent Liberal history suggest an easy win, which is exactly what any party wants for its leader, especially one who has never been elected to anything, anywhere. Losing his own riding would be an embarrassing setback.
This race is unlikely to be quite as simple as the Liberals would like. Carney is a poor demographic fit for the riding, has no meaningful connection to it, and has already made some missteps that might hurt his cause.
Making Carney’s challenge more difficult is the fact that his primary opponent, Conservative Barbara Bal, is from the riding, dynamic, likeable and has been knocking on voters doors’ since she was nominated in August, 2023. Bal attracted about 500 people to a rally Sunday night.
Carney has a résumé that practically screams “not from Nepean.” He’s an older white guy from Rockcliffe with degrees from Harvard and Oxford, has been the governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, and the UN special envoy on climate change. In Canada, it doesn’t get much more elite than that.
Nepean is a working-class riding with a significant and politically important ethnic population. About nine per cent are of South Asian background, nearly eight per cent Chinese, nearly seven per cent Black.
Given that, rejecting Arya’s candidacy without a good explanation after he had won the nomination wasn’t the smartest move and is unlikely to endear Liberals to Indo-Canadian voters, an important source of support for the party in the riding. Once Carney announced that he was going to run in the forcibly vacated seat, the whole thing looked even more high-handed and arrogant.
Carney has no connection to Nepean, citing attending the wedding of a friend from Nepean years ago as evidence of familiarity with the riding. At his riding kickoff event, Carney referred to “representing you in Ottawa.” People from here don’t refer to Parliament as “Ottawa.” He also had an out-of-date understanding of the riding’s boundaries, thinking it included Bells Corners.
It’s one thing to be a parachute candidate, but at least you should know where the drop zone is.
Nepean voters will have to ask themselves what kind of representation they want. If the Liberals and Carney win, Nepean would have the prime minister as an MP. Sounds good, but Carney’s track record suggests that he is interested in big national and international issues, not the lives of little folks in Nepean.
If voters want someone with roots in their riding, a person who understands their concerns and one of will defend their interests vigorously, they should consider Bal. I served on a community association executive with her some years ago, so I have a pretty good idea of the kind of person she is.
Bal is an experienced leader with a background as a military reserve officer and police staff sergeant who has served Ottawa for 21 years. She is an amazingly hard worker, doing her day job from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., then knocking on doors from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. All that while raising three teenagers and recently completing an MBA.
Bal has a relentlessly positive attitude and is not the standard political candidate who can do nothing more than repeat party talking points. She says what she thinks. We could use more people like that in politics.
For Carney, running in Nepean is a convenience. The riding is close to Parliament Hill. For Bal, representing the people of Nepean is a passion because she’s one of them.
Nepean voters have a big choice to make.
Randall Denley is an Ottawa journalist and author. He is a former Progressive Conservative candidate provincially. Contact him at [email protected]
