Vote 2019: Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill riding profile

What you need to know about the Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill riding for the federal election, Oct. 21

Yorkregion.com
June 17, 2019
Kim Zarzour

THE RIDING

Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill encompasses Aurora south of Wellington Street and northern Richmond Hill from Bathurst and Elgin Mills, along Shirley Drive to Major Mackenzie Drive East and Hwy. 404.

The riding was created by the 2012 federal electoral boundaries redistribution and came into effect for the 2015 election.

STATS

Area: 94.63 square km

Population: 115,227 (2016 census)

Population density: 1,217.7 per square km

THE RACE:

Leona Alleslev--Conservative

Other parties have yet to confirm candidates.

BACKGROUND

During the last election in 2015, the riding had a population of 115,227 with 79,127 registered voters and 183 polling divisions. A total of 51,188 ballots were cast.

It was a tight race, but the riding went red that year, with Leona Alleslev, (at the time a candidate for the Liberal party), edging out the Conservatives’ Costas Mengakis by just two per cent of the vote. Alleslev earned 24,132 votes (47 per cent) and Menegakis earned 23,039 votes (45 per cent).

The remaining votes went to Brenda Power, NDP, with 2,912 votes (5.7 per cent), Randi Ramdeen, Greens, 654 votes (1.3 per cent) and Kyle Bowles, Animal Alliance Environment, with 243 votes (0.5 per cent).

On Sept. 17, 2018, Alleslev crossed the floor to join the Conservative party, citing disagreements with the Liberal government over taxes, defence and security issues, free trade and foreign relations.

Conservative leader Andrew Scheer announced she would take on the newly created role of global security critic.

“To my constituents, I am the same person you elected in 2015,” she tweeted. “I believe in a strong federal government that leads Canadians. But to achieve what you demand of me, I must change parties.”