Denley: Kanata-Carleton voters will win, whomever they choose as their next MP

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Kanata-Carleton voters have perhaps the most intriguing choice locally in next month’s federal election. Both the Liberals and the Conservatives are fielding strong female candidates in a riding where there is no incumbent and voters have a history of supporting either party. It is held by the Liberals federally, but by PC MPP Merilee Fullerton provincially.

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The remarkable thing about Liberal candidate Jenna Sudds and Conservative candidate Jennifer McAndrew is how demographically similar they are.  Both have a long connection with Kanata, both hold master’s degrees, both are 42 and both are mothers. It doesn’t end there. Both were named part of the Top 40 Under 40 by the Ottawa Business Journal in 2015, they used to go to the same gym and they have daughters with the same name.

The most important commonality the two candidates have is that they have taken paths in life that credibly prepare them to serve Ottawa at the federal level. McAndrew finished her MBA in 2007, then she and her husband started an event planning business that now employees 17 people. McAndrew’s view of the world has been shaped by her entrepreneurship and what business owners experienced during the pandemic, she says.

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Sudds spent 12 years as a federal government economist, then left the security of government work to become founding executive director of the Kanata North Business Association, later going on to be executive director of a national technology council. Sudds has political experience, having been elected city councillor for Kanata North in 2018. Sudds cites as achievements blocking redevelopment of the Kanata Golf and Country Club and a pilot project for free menstrual products in low-income neighbourhoods. She describes her career path as one of willingness to give up security to pursue new opportunities.

Sudds’s unexpected jump into federal politics has led to criticism from some who think the move was opportunistic. Of course it was opportunistic. In politics, one doesn’t get to dictate the timing of opportunities. They have to be grasped when they present themselves. It’s good to see a councillor with the ambition to do more and it’s good to see a candidate with municipal political experience.

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McAndrew has a wide-ranging policy focus that was evident in her nomination campaign, which she began a year ago. She doesn’t think the current federal government did enough for small businesses and made the help it did offer complex to obtain. Government could use more MPs with a real business background, she argues. 

Both candidates have identified a similar list of riding-specific issues that includes extending LRT to Kanata, expanding rural broadband and clarifying federal policies on working from home.

McAndrew and Sudds are both relaxed and confident in interviews, easily able to move beyond the stilted partisan talking points that confine so many candidates. Neither indulges in mean-spirited attacks on her opponent or the other party. McAndrew says “we need to focus on policies that make things better.”

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One important quality in a local MP, seldom seen here, is the ability to champion your community even when it means saying something your party might not want to hear. McAndrew might have an edge there. She certainly knows what she thinks. As a councillor, Sudds was seen as a loyal ally of Mayor Jim Watson, no party system required. 

While the NDP and Greens are both fielding strong candidates in Kanata-Carleton, there is nothing in their party’s past support to suggest that either Melissa Coenraad or Jennifer Purdy will succeed. Instead, voters have a choice of Sudds or McAndrew.

What a great choice it is. Both candidates have ample real-world experience to bring to the job and both have put in their share of community volunteer work. It’s refreshing to see such good candidates come forward.

As always, voters will be swayed by party platforms, the performance of the leaders and their own past voting history, but they have an enviable choice. Whether McAndrew wins or Sudds, Kanata-Carleton will have a good new MP.

ALSO: Election 2021: Read local riding profiles published by the Ottawa Citizen 

Randall Denley is an Ottawa political commentator and author. Contact him at randalldenley1@gmail.com