ontario election 2025: what you need to know if you vote in glengarry-prescott-russell riding
a formerly safe liberal seat, glengarry -prescott-russell has voted progressive conservative in the last two provincial elections.
10 minute read
ontario election 2025 candidates for the glengarry — prescott — russell riding (left to right): thaila riden, stéphane sarrazin, trevor stewart. graphic by sofia misenheimer/postmedia
quick facts
- area: 2,909 square kilometres
- population: 116,463 (2021)
- density: 40 people per square kilometre
- median household income: $95,000 (2020)
- median age: 45.6 (2021)
- knowledge of official languages: english (26.9 per cent), french (8.5 per cent), english and french (64.5 per cent), neither english nor french (0.2 per cent)
where is glengarry-prescott-russell located?
the riding sits largely to the east of ottawa, the ottawa river forming its northern border, and stretches to the quebec border in the east. it consists of the united counties of prescott and russell, and the part of the united counties of stormont, dundas and glengarry comprised of the township of north glengarry. additionally, it encompasses parts of ottawa east of orléans. the riding includes clarence-rockland, russell, cumberland, navan, embrun, casselman and hawkesbury.
what is the recent electoral history of this riding?
glengarry — prescott — russell was created in 1996 from parts of two ridings: prescott and russell, and stormont — dundas — glengarry and east grenville. it was first contested in 1999, when liberal jean-marc lalonde, at the time mpp for prescott and russell, won the seat with more than half of the vote.
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the seat remained safely liberal for nearly 20 years. lalonde held it until 2011 when he decided not to run in that year’s election. it was subsequently won and held for two terms by liberal grant crack. crack stepped down in 2018, and in that year’s provincial election, progressive conservative candidate amanda simard prevailed, flipping the seat with 41 per cent of the vote, almost 10 points ahead of the second-place finisher, liberal candidate pierre leroux.
a critic of some of her own party’s policies regarding french-language services, simard resigned from the tory caucus later that year and sat as an independent until 2020, when she joined the liberal party’s ranks. in the most recent provincial election, in 2022, simard failed to hold her seat, falling to conservative candidate stéphane sarrazin by 1,132 votes. sarrazin won 42 per cent of the vote, while simard claimed 39.5 per cent. overall, only 45.56 per cent of eligible voters cast ballots in 2022, the lowest turnout in the riding’s history.
who’s running in glengarry — prescott — russell?
six candidates are hoping to unseat progressive conservative incumbent stéphane sarrazin.
a former mayor of alfred and plantagenet, and warden of prescott and russell united counties, sarrazin has served since last march as parliamentary assistant to both the associate minister of small business and the minister of francophone affairs. for nearly two years previously, he served as parliamentary assistant to the minister of energy. heading into the 2022 election, sarrazin cited the widening of hwy. 174 from rockland to ottawa and the expansion of high-speed internet and natural gas infrastructure as issues of local concern.
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running for the liberal party of ontario is trevor stewart, who was born and raised in hammond. he earned his bachelor’s degree in conflict studies and human rights at uottawa and has since worked on parliament hill as liberal mp francis drouin. in 2022, at just 23, he was elected to clarence-rockland’s city council, where he represents the villages of hammond and cheney. he has, since 2021, additionally worked as executive assistant to francis drouin, liberal mp for the federal riding of glengarry — prescott — russell.
the ndp is represented by ryder finlay, a community organizer and it worker. her linkedin page identifies her as a carleton university student. she was a data director for the ottawa-south ndp and, since last july, a provincial pre-election organizer in ottawa centre. she also served as deputy campaign manager for yvette ashiri, who twice ran for city council in orléans south-navan, finishing second both times.
environmental activist thaila riden is running for the green party of ontario. an east hawkesbury resident, riden is a board member of the vankleek hill nature society, president of the non-profit eco east, and operates the grand barn community garden club. he ran for the greens in this riding in 2022, coming in fifth place with 1,670 votes, just under four per cent of the total number cast.
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the three remaining candidates are félix labrosse for the new blue party, independent jason st-louis and ontario party hopeful brandon wallingford.
we asked, they answered
for this election, the ottawa citizen asked candidates from ontario’s four main parties four questions each about how they would tackle transit, health care, and housing issues in ottawa (and also what their favourite local restaurant is). here is what we heard back from the candidates:
trevor stewart (liberal)
how do you propose helping to fix the housing crisis?
our kids can’t afford homes in the communities they grew up in, seniors can’t downsize, and everyday working people in places like hawkesbury, russell, alexandria, cumberland and rockland can’t afford a home. i’m committed to treating the housing crisis for what it really is, a crisis.
as a city councillor in clarence-rockland, i’ve seen just how much development charges can rack up the price of a home and how they can be barriers of entry for many local developers. i’d advocate to scrap development charges and replace them with the better communities fund to ensure sustainable municipal growth.
i’d also advocate to eliminate the provincial land transfer tax for first-time homebuyers, seniors downsizing, and non-profit home builders. as well as introducing phased-in rent control, resolving landlord-tenant board disputes within two months, and establishing the rental emergency support for tenants (rest) fund to help vulnerable renters avoid eviction during financial emergencies.
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how will you make sure everyone in your riding has a family doctor?
leaked data from the ministry of health in ontario painted a rough picture. approximately 1 in 3 people in glengarry-prescott-russell either don’t have access to a family doctor or are imminently at risk of losing their family doctor. we need to take our health seriously, not waste billions on venture projects in toronto. here’s my plan for health in our region:
educate, attract and retain thousands of new domestic and internationally trained family doctors.
improve the ontario health team network, using it to massively expand access to family doctors practicing in teams close to your home within four years.
modernize family medicine, put an end to fax machines once and for all, and make appointments available on evenings and weekends.
stop penalizing patients and doctors if they seek care at walk-in clinics.
incentivize doctors to establish themselves in rural communities like glengarry-prescott-russell.
establish a francophone health strategy
how can the province be fairer to municipalities with its transit and budget issues?
as a city councillor, i know what it’s like to manage a city budget and this government has taken municipalities out of the equation, has stripped them of power, has downloaded more services onto them and has refused new funding.
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this needs to change.
i’d advocate for a renewed funding model with municipalities. on transit, the ontario liberals have committed to building a dedicated bus/hov lane to rockland to connect to the lrt at trim road, enhancing transit options for us in the east. i’d also explore all possible options to reduce congestion on the 17.
what’s your favourite local restaurant and why?
dandy lion brew pub (formerly the hammond golf restaurant). as a lifelong hammond resident i have to go with this local staple, whether it’s the beer brewed at the brewery attached to the restaurant or the always amazing food, it’s the best of the best.
ryder finlay (ndp)
how do you propose helping to fix the housing crisis?
every ontarian should have access to adequate housing, regardless of income, age, ability or family size. we are going to establish homes ontario to provide grants, low-cost financing, public land and other resources to help non-market, non-profit and co-op housing providers quickly increase the supply of permanently affordable non-market homes. homes ontario would build or acquire at least 300,000 new affordable homes over ten years. we will work with municipalities and homebuilders to cut costs and reduce red tape, legalizing fourplexes and other affordable “missing middle” housing options in all neighbourhoods and allowing increased density as-of-right along transit corridors. for renters, an ontario ndp government will introduce real rent control tied to the unit rather than the renter to keep rents affordable for the long term. we will also beef up the rules to prevent renovictions, demovictions and other illegal tactics.
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how will you make sure everyone in ottawa has a family doctor?
how will you make sure everyone in ottawa has a family doctor? ottawa residents deserve health care when they need it and close to home. but after seven years of doug ford, 2.5 million ontarians are without a family doctor. an ontario ndp government will guarantee that every person in ottawa and across our province will have a family doctor by connecting everyone to team-based care in four years. to do that, we will recruit and support 3,500 new doctors. we will cut red tape that burdens doctors so that they can spend more time with patients, not paperwork. we will clear the path for 13,000 internationally trained doctors ready to serve ontarians and increase residency spots
province-wide. and because the situation is dire, we’re committed to 100 days of action – from day one, we will fast-track more family health teams, cut wait times for specialist treatment and allow more flexibility for patients and doctors in how they provide and access care.
how can the province be fairer to municipalities with transit and budget issues?
how can the province be fairer to ottawa with its transit and budget issues? after 7 years of doug ford, transit service has gotten worse, and fairs have gotten more expensive. we can fix that by restoring 50% provincial funding for municipal transit operations, including oc transpo, delivering improved service that is reliable, frequent, convenient and affordable for riders. re-uploading this funding to the provincial government on a permanent basis will ensure that ottawa has more ability to address local priorities while also receiving the improved transit service we need and deserve.
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what’s your favourite local restaurant and why?
i find that in these cold winter months, i have a hankering for warmer foods. so, shawarma palace has been my go-to. ottawa is the shawarma capital of canada for a reason, and i truly think there’s nothing better than going from -20 plus the windchill into biting down on the warmest, most garlicky sandwich possible.
thaila riden (green)
how do you propose helping to fix the housing crisis?
our ontario green government would:
removing the land transfer tax for first-time homebuyers.
across rural ontario, build at least 250,000 new affordable non profit and co-op rental homes and 60,000 permanent supportive homes with guaranteed operational funding and make provincial land available at no cost
upload community housing and shelter costs to the province that had been unfairly downloaded onto municipalities by prior governments
streamline the process for building missing middle housing and remove barriers to developing existing buildings like abandoned plazas and warehouses
reinstate the brownfield remediation fund to support municipalities to safely build new homes on previously industrial sites
put homes for people first by combating rampant housing speculation and financialization, including implementing a province-wide vacant home tax and creating a task force to adequately address the financialization of housing
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place stronger regulations on short-term vacation rentals.
how will you make sure everyone in your riding has a family doctor?
our communities deserve better. we’re committed to recruiting more doctors and boosting rural hospitals so that every family has access to quality care close to home. healthy communities are the foundation of a prosperous society.
our ontario green government would:
recruit 3,500 doctors to ontario so everyone has access to a family doctor in the next three to five years and expand team-based care into all rural and northern communities across ontario
increase provincial funding for rural hospitals and cut the local cost share for funding new hospitals in half.
fix the staffing shortage by providing equal pay for nurses, doctors and psws across all communities and healthcare settings in ontario to increase capacity in rural and remote communities, and compensate healthcare workers fairly for their travel to treat patients at home.
how can the province be fairer to municipalities with transit and budget issues?
the ontario government must shoulder more of the burden of these social costs for our communities to thrive. an ontario greens government would adequately support municipal governments and local residents by:
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granting municipalities autonomy to implement revenue tools to fund critical infrastructure needs and services.
providing immediate financial support for municipalities to bolster local infrastructure:
uploading 50 per cent of shelter and community housing costs to the provincial government while allowing municipalities to maintain management control.
restoring the 50 per cent provincial cost-share for transit operations and supporting electrification plans for all municipal transit systems.
creating a dedicated $2 billion a year climate adaptation fund for municipalities.
what’s your favourite local restaurant and why?
my favorite restaurant is the thai kitchen restaurant in hawkesbury. their food is delicious, well portioned and priced. really friendly staff. plus they have gluten-free offerings, which makes my gluten-intolerant wife happy, which makes me happy.
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