1999 Ontario Provincial Election
Riding-by-Riding Prediction
Timiskaming-Cochrane

Current Prediction:
Riding Profile:

Candidates:
Liberal Party:
David Ramsey MPP
Progressive Conservative Party:
Rick Bassard
New Democratic Party:
Len Wood MPP

Incumbent (old riding composition):
Timiskaming (99%):
David Ramsey
Cochrane North (18%):
Len Wood
Cochrane South (17%):
Gilles Bisson
Nipissing (20%):
Hon. Mike Harris
Sudbury East (9%):
Shelley Martel

Member of Parliament:
Ben Serre

Surrounding Ridings:
Nickel Belt
Nipissing
Parry Sound-Muskoka
Timmins-James Bay

Misc:
Population: 76 745
Avg Household Income 38 022
Language (Home)
English 50 095
French 23 540
Submitted Information
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Too Close
02/24/99 Name Email:
I was in this riding last summer. This will be another fascinating match and a real clash of the titans between the NDP's Len Wood and the Liberals' David Ramsey (who crossed over to the Liberals from the NDP in 1987). Although the riding does have some PC support, it won'r be anywhere near enough to win. This race will definately be decided on who can get their vote out.
04/08/99 CNG Email:
Len Wood received one of the NDP's highest pluralities in 1995. Although only a small part of Cochrane North is in the new riding, Wood is well regarded in the region as a spokesperson for Northeastern Ontario and will be re-elected. Apart from a suicidal leadership run in 1992, Dave Ramsay hasn't been heard from much since he crossed the floor a decade ago.
04/17/99 A.S. Email: adma@interlog.com
I think I once read of Len Wood 's intended retirement following his riding's disappearance through redistribution, so it's interesting to see him running again--too bad he only has a fragment of his old riding left (and not even his best fragment; Cochrane favoured the Liberals in '90, PC in '95). There are equally fragmentary parts of 2 other NDP seats, and from them only the town of Iroquois Falls can be described as a major centre for party support--on the other hand, David Ramsay has kept all of his turf that matters, and it's central to the new riding. And rather than an nonentity, I'd term Ramsay a sly fox--even his political weathercockness (was he not once a Tory as well?) seems to indicate so much, and his leadership run was perhaps not so much suicidal as strategic, presumably preparation for future cabinet roles (and besides, with Lyn McLeod he's the only Queen's Park survivor from that '92 race). The Tories also bear watching, with their traditional bastions not so much in the parts taken from Mike Harris's riding (which, in any event, are ordinarily Franco-Catholic Liberal places like Sturgeon Falls) as in pockets like Temagami, Elk Lake, and Englehart (in '95, the last real vestige of the old Northern Ontario CoR cauldrons). However, like his anti-gun-control federal Liberal counterpart Ben Serre, Ramsay could be capable of pilfering a bit of that ostensibly right-wing and populist vote. Thus Len Wood looks to be in some trouble, if the NDP can't consolidate a truly effective machine and potential bandwagon-effect--and of course, Gilles Bisson, Shelley Martel, and of course Howard Hampton are all splendid friends for an odd-man-out to have.
05/10/99 Todd Bosak Email: sparky_eh@yahoo.com
I was up in the riding during the first week of the campaign. I was very suprised by two things: 1. the lack of visible organization on the part of the Ramsey campaign, and 2. the quick start by the Wood campaign. While I expect this to be a tight race, I think Wood will prevail based upon the superior organization of his campaign.
05/15/99 N.J. from Timmins Email: northerner@hotmail.com
I don't think Len Wood is well known in the Tri-towns and K.L. But correct me if I'm wrong.
06/01/99 Email:
Neither of the opposition parties has ever really run a strong candidate against Ramsey since his defection to the Liberals. However, this time the NDP is running Len Wood, who received one of the NDP's highest margins in the last election. The riding also takes in good chunks of other NDP ridings. Since the NDP is going up in the polls and the Liberals are going down, this will be a riding to watch on election night.

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Last Updated 2nd June 1999

© 1999 Milton Chan, University of Waterloo
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