Ontario Votes 2018: Ottawa WestNepean - Action News
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Ontario Votes 2018: Ottawa WestNepean

While Ottawa WestNepean has been Liberal for more than a decade, it's considered by strategists as a riding that may swing to the party in power.

The last time this riding was held by a PC candidate was before Dalton McGuinty became premier

Incumbent Bob Chiarelli (centre) has been the Liberal representative in Ottawa WestNepean since 2010. In this election, the NDP's Chandra Pasma (left) and the PC's Jeremy Roberts (right) hope to unseat him. (Submitted)

While Ottawa WestNepean has been in Liberal hands for more than a decade, it's considered by strategists as a riding that may swing to the party in power.

The somewhatoddly-shaped ridingincludesnot only a large swath of urban residents, but also the old west end near the Crystal Bay area.

The latest census suggests people inOttawa WestNepeanare older than in other eastern Ontario ridingswith a higher percentage of visible minorities. The top industries for work are public administration, retail tradeand health care.

Who's running?

Theriding went Liberal when Dalton McGuintyfirst became premier in2003and it's been red ever since. Incumbent Bob Chiarelli, a former Ottawa mayor, won the seat in a 2010 byelection after current Mayor Jim Watson left provincial politics.

Since then, Chiarelli has wontwo general elections and served as Ontario's Minister of Transportation.

Jeremy Roberts is representing the Progressive Conservatives in the riding, following the party's decision tooverturn KarmaMacgregor'scontroversial 2017 nomination. He's worked behind the scenes in federal politics, as an advisor to former Conservative finance ministers Jim Flaherty and Joe Oliver.

NDP candidate Chandra Pasma is a researcher with the Canadian Union of Public Employees and also has experience working as a policy advisor in federal politics.

Patrick Freel,the candidate for the Green Party, is working on completing a Horticultural Industries diploma.Nicholas Paliga is on the ballot for the Libertarian Partyand Colin Pritchard is running as a None of the Above Direct Democracy candidate.