Ontario Votes 2022: Orléans

In the 2018 race, Marie France-Lalonde won by a slim margin over the Progressive Conservative candidate, then vacated the seat when she successfully ran for the federal Liberals in 2019.

That opened the door for Liberal incumbent Stephen Blais, who won the 2020 byelection that took place because of the vacated seat.

The next-closest candidate was a Progressive Conservative who had nearly 1,000 fewer votes.

There are seven candidates in this race.

Stephen Blais, Liberal

Before being elected MPP in 2020, the Liberal candidate served as an Ottawa city councillor for the Cumberland ward.

Before that he worked at the Privy Council Office, served as a staff member to the minister of consumer and business services and spent time with the Ottawa Hospital Foundation.

Gabe Bourdon, NDP

The NDP candidate has worked on labour issues with the Public Service Alliance of Canada, and founded PSAC's National Capital Region young workers committee.

He is a life-long resident of Orléans with two children and is active in the community.

All in a Day8:15Wheel of Candidates #2: Gabe Bourdon

Every week before the election, we ask randomly selected candidates where they stand on issues in the upcoming Ontario election. We talk to Gabe Bourdon, the Ontario NDP candidate in Orleans about his party's plans for addressing climate change.

Vince Clements, Ontario Party

Melissa Felián, PC

The PC candidate moved to Ottawa to work in the federal public service after finishing her master's in public and international affairs at York University.

She has worked on trade, foreign direct investment and broadband connectivity.

Ken Lewis, Libertarian

The Libertarian candidate was born and raised in the Ottawa area before moving to Germany for 16 years.

Since his return, he has owned and operated three businesses.

Michelle Petersen, Green Party

The Green Party candidate has worked in the community services sector in Ottawa for 20 years in the areas of youth, mental health and women's services.

She currently serves as director of operations for the provincial umbrella organization for francophone and feminist services that support women who are victims and survivors of violence.

All in a Day9:37Wheel of Candidates #9: Michelle Petersen

Green Party of Ontario candidate for Orléans, Michelle Petersen tells us how her party will deal with housing issues in Ontario

Liam Randall, New Blue

The New Blue candidate has a background in regulatory compliance at the provincial level for businesses.

He works with businesses from a variety of sectors and has training in risk assessment, risk management and communication.