Kitchener - Conestoga

This rural and urban southern Ontario riding includes part of the city of Kitchener southwest of Conestoga Parkway and west of Highway 8.

The riding surrounds the Kitchener-Waterloo and Kitchener Centre ridings and contains the townships of Wilmot, Wellesley and Woolwich.

According to the 2006 census, thirty per cent of the population is of German origin. Manufacturing, retail trade and the service sector are major employers. The average family income is $94,100 and unemployment is 4.6 per cent.

Kitchener-Conestoga riding was created in 2004 from 62 per cent of Waterloo-Wellington and portions of Kitchener Centre and Cambridge. The riding of Waterloo-Wellington was created in 1996 by combining portions of Perth-Wellington-Waterloo, Wellington-Grey-Dufferin-Simcoe, Cambridge and Waterloo.

Population: 114,405 (2006 census; an increase of 18.3% since 2001)

Political History

In 2006, Conservative Harold Glenn Albrecht defeated Liberal incumbent Lynn Myers by 1,369 votes.

In the 2004 election, Myers was the incumbent in the Waterloo-Wellington riding and beat Conservative challenger Frank Luellan to win his third term.

Conservative MP Perrin Beatty held Waterloo-Wellington from 1979 to 1993.

Waterloo-Wellington:

• 1997, 2000 - LIB

Kitchener-Conestoga:

• 2004 - LIB
• 2006 - CON