Nepean voters discuss riding's future after departure of long-time MPP Lisa MacLeod
Traffic, health care and the threat of U.S. tariffs top of mind for Nepean voters
Joseph Avanissian hears a familiar complaint from virtually every client at Le Look hair salon in Barrhaven. It's not about their roots or receding hairlines: it's the traffic.
"The roads in Barrhaven, they're too busy," Avanissian said. "It's a nightmare."
He hopes "nightmare" traffic will get more attention, and perhaps a new Highway 416 interchange, once the upcoming provincial election sends a fresh face to Queen's Park.
MPP Lisa MacLeod announced in September she wouldn't be running again in her long-time Nepean-area riding. MacLeod served the area for almost 20 years and held two different cabinet positions.
"I think it was time for her to move on. She was a good MPP. Whenever she could do anything, she did it for Barrhaven," Avanissian said. "I think she realized her life comes first, her family comes first, her health comes first."
On the day she was removed from cabinet in 2022, MacLeod announced she was taking time off to address her mental and physical health.
Earlier this year, she apologized for a social media post one of her prospective successors called "defamatory, hateful, and Islamophobic."
- Longtime Ottawa MPP Lisa MacLeod won't seek re-election
- Outgoing Ottawa MPP apologizes for 'inappropriate' post blasted as Islamophobic
With MacLeod's departure, a full slate of main party candidates will vie for a riding that has gone to the Progressive Conservatives since its creation in 1998.
But whoever replaces MacLeod, Nepean voters say affordability, health care and the threat of U.S. tariffs are key issues they'd like to see addressed.
Affordability
Erin Vachon, an educational assistant and mother of five, said she struggles to afford healthy food.
"Our kids will ask for certain things like grapes, and we have to choose ... because the prices are just ridiculous," Vachon said. "It's a feeling of failure. You feel like you you're not doing enough for your kids."
Vachon's husband was laid off in the fall. For her, PC Leader Doug Ford's talk about the economy sometimes rings hollow.
"He knows exactly what to say, when to say it, and [he says] 'we're all in this together' — but we're not."
For Mike Labelle, complaints about the current Ontario government are understandable, but he also sees why people like Ford.
"He's a bulldog, kind of Winston Churchill-ish, right?- Barrhaven resident Mike Labelle
"He's a bulldog, kind of Winston Churchill-ish, right? We need those masks. What do you mean you're not delivering them? Let's get my truck and bring the frickin' things here," Labelle said, referencing a day in 2020 when Ford picked up a mask donation in his personal pickup truck. "That goes a long way with people."
But when Labelle landed in hospital for 12 days after complications from knee replacement surgery, he saw gaps in Ontario's health care system.
"It sucks. You need more people," he said. "When they fixed the broken knee replacement, I got a staphylococcus [infection] in the hospital. So all the cutting and the sewing in the same spot? You can't really use the leg anymore. It was actually a comedy of errors."
Labelle said he can think of at least one solution.
"Maybe cut the politicians' salaries and pay the nurses and doctors some more?" he said.
Health care
Health care is also a concern for Paramjit Gidda in Bells Corners. Both Gidda and her husband are recovering from joint replacement surgery and are unable to get the help they need.
Despite her personal situation, Gidda said she's more concerned about her grandson, who's worried about getting into medical school.
"We are struggling to find doctors, but yet the kids are having a hard time getting into med school," Gidda said. "It's worrying us that he might leave and might not come back to Canada."
U.S. tariffs
Andrew Cameron doesn't live in the riding, but his family business Infinity Flooring has been a fixture on Robertson Road in Bells Corners for years.
He appreciates what he sees as Doug Ford stepping up to fight the threat of U.S. tariffs — and promoting "Made in Canada" products, something for which he said clients are clamouring.
Meanwhile, Zuheir Bechara isn't sure a provincial election is going to attract more clients to his stylist chair at Zu Hair Designs in Bells Corners, or put new tenants in vacant buildings around town.
"I don't know if Doug Ford cares about Ottawa as much as he cares about Toronto," said Bechara. "But the problem with our politicians? Once they get in, they forget who you are."
Running to replace MacLeod
A full slate of major party candidates is running to replace MacLeod.
PC candidate Alex Lewis is an officer with the Ottawa Police Service. For the Liberals, candidate Tyler Watt is an acute-care nurse in his 30s who has nearly 40,000 followers on X.
NDP candidate Max Blair is a recent Carleton University graduate working as a legislative assistant in the House of Commons. And the Green Party candidate is Sheilagh McLean, a retired federal civil servant and yoga teacher.
For more information about this riding and others, go to cbc.ca/OntarioVotes2025.
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