Hunter Cresswell 

The byelection hasn’t been called yet, but that hasn’t stopped major Ontario political parties from naming candidates for the upcoming vote in Kanata-Carleton.

Last week, Ontario Liberal Party candidate Karen McCrimmon and Green Party of Ontario candidate Steven Warren threw their hats into the ring, joining Progressive Conservative Party candidate Sean Webster and New Democratic Party candidate Melissa Coenraad in a race that still doesn’t have a finish line.

In March, Merrilee Fullerton resigned from cabinet and vacated the Kanata-Carleton seat. The stunning resignation came less than a year after Fullerton had won a second term in office and as she was serving as minister of children, community and social services.

A byelection for the riding — which stretches from the Kanata suburb to rural communities near Ottawa’s western border — must be held by September 24 at the latest.

Ontario NDP candidate Coenraad’s name may be familiar to voters of the riding because she ran in 2022. She has worked as a medical lab technician in Ottawa hospitals for the last 20 years and represents about 40,000 workers as the Ontario Public Service Employees Union region four regional vice president.

“I feel the government is out of touch with the average Ontarian,” Coenraad said.

If elected, she said her focus will be on improving healthcare, education, housing affordability, and preserving greenspace.

“People really want our healthcare to stay public,” she said, adding that voters also tell her they want more investments in special education and mental health resources.

Liberal candidate McCrimmon may also be a familiar name for voters. The armed forces veteran represented Kanata-Carleton in the House of Commons as a Liberal from 2015 to 2021.

“I have a record to run on,” she said.

McCrimmon said that the high cost of living — rent, food, and housing — in the riding concerns her and voters she’s spoken with.

“The federal government is doing a good job of addressing those issues but I don’t see anything happening at the provincial level,” she said.

“And the privatization of healthcare is going to make living even more expensive.”

McCrimmon said that she and other Ontario Liberal MPPs would incentivize health care teams of doctors, nurses, and other support staff to open more urgent care clinics to serve more people and reduce backups in hospital emergency rooms.

She left her role as MP in 2021 due to personal and family health concerns.

“It came to a point that I couldn’t take care of myself, my mother in law, my father in law, and the people of Katata-Carleton — something had to give,” she said. “It was probably one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make. It was absolutely the right decision.”

The federal riding is held by Liberal Jenna Sudds, a former city councilor for Kanata North. Kanata-Carleton is one of four ridings in Ottawa held by the federal Liberals but represented by a different party at Queen’s Park — Ottawa Centre (NDP), Ottawa West-Nepean (NDP), Nepean (PCs).

Green hopeful Steven Warren was the Green Party’s youngest candidate in 2022 when he ran for Ottawa West-Nepean and received 3.53 per cent of the vote. He’s currently a political science student at the University of Ottawa.

“I’m deeply concerned about the direction the current government is taking Ontario in,” Warren stated in a June 3 press release. “Kanata-Carleton needs someone committed to standing up for their community and building a prosperous, equitable Ontario."

Progressive Conservative candidate Webster is a career businessman with corporate and non-profit experience.

“I’m thrilled to be running as the candidate for Kanata-Carleton,” Webster stated in a press release last month. “I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work making sure the great people of Kanata and Carleton continue to have their voices heard at Queen’s Park.”

Former MPP Fullerton didn’t specify her reason for leaving the assembly in her March resignation letter. Voters first elected her in 2018 by a wide margin, 43.2 per cent of votes over the second-place NDP candidate who received 29.17 per cent of the vote. Voters reelected Fullerton by a similar margin in 2022, she got 43.61 per cent of votes while Coenraad got 24.24 per cent of votes, according to Elections Ontario.


Major Ontario parties name candidates for Kanata-Carleton byelection

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