Essex

This riding in the southwest tip of Ontario is bordered by Lake Erie on the south, Lake St. Clair on the north and the Detroit River on the west, excluding the city of Windsor. It contains part of Essex County and includes Essex, Amherstburg, Kingsville and Lakeshore as well as Pelee Island.

About thirty per cent of the population gave its ethnic origin as French in the 2006 census, and about ten per cent as Italian. English is listed as the mother tongue by 83 per cent of residents and French by four per cent. Italian came in third at 2.5 per cent.

This mainly rural riding is home to some of the richest farmland in Canada, but the main industry is manufacturing. The average family income is $97,414 and the unemployment rate is 5.7 per cent.

The riding began as Essex in 1966 and was renamed Essex-Windsor in 1996 when parts of Essex were merged with Essex-Kent. In 2004, part of the northwest corner of Essex was moved into the Windsor-Tecumseh riding.

Population: 123,872 (2006 census; an increase of 8.3% since 2001)

Political History

Conservative Jeff Watson won his second term in the 2006 election when he defeated former Liberal MP Susan Whelan by 3,615 votes.

Watson also faced Whelan in 2004, when he won by only 829 votes. Prior to Watson's victory, Whelan served three terms as MP and was minister for international co-operation in 2002-03.

Her father, Eugene Whelan, represented this riding from 1968-84. He was minister of agriculture under Pierre Trudeau. After he left office, he was appointed ambassador to Rome.

Steven Langdon was elected for the New Democratic Party in 1984 and 1988.

Essex/Essex-Windsor/Essex:

• 1968-80 inclusive - LIB
• 1984, 1988 - NDP
• 1993, 1997, 2000 - LIB
• 2004, 2006 - CON