Kitchener Centre

1999 Ontario Provincial Election
Riding-by-Riding Prediction
Kitchener Centre

Current Prediction:

Riding Profile:
Candidates:

Liberal Party:
	Berry Vrbanovic
Progressive Conservative Party:
	Wayne Wettlaufer MPP
New Democratic Party:
	David Brohman
Green Party:
	Susan Koswan
Natural Law Party:
	Ron Anderson
Independent:
	Julian Ichim
Independent:
	Irvine James Conner

Incumbent (old riding composition):

Kitchener (65%):
	Wayne Wettlaufer
Kitchener-Wilmot (54%):
	Gary Leadston

Member of Parliament:

Karen Redman

Surrounding Ridings:
Cambridge
Kitchener-Waterloo
Waterloo-Wellington

Misc:

Population:	107 181
Avg Household Income	46 067
Language (Home)
English	91 555
German	1 875

Submitted Information Submit Information here

Too Close	01/31/99	Toronto Star	Email:
From "As Kitchener goes..." By Ian Urquhart
In the Kitchener riding, on the other hand, the Tories face stiff competition... Right now, with the Liberals and Tories running neck-and-neck in provincewide polls, Kitchener is too close to call.
	04/13/99	Toronto Star	Email:
3 Tory MPPs lose chance to run again by Joel Ruimy
Also Saturday, in the new riding of Kitchener Centre, insurance broker Wayne Wettlauffer (Kitchener) trumped former police officer and municipal councillor Gary Leadston (Kitchener-Wilmot) in a vote described as ``not close.'' Both were first elected in 1995 and Wettlauffer is expected to face a tough race in Kitchener, considered a swing riding.
	04/16/99	A.S.	Email: adma@interlog.com
Kitchener Centre, at one time mainstream Nixon-Peterson Grit to the bone, is now the sort of place whose political fate probably won't be clear until well into the campaign. Aside from the Harris bandwagon, the depth of PC support is wishy-washy (and probably most apparent in the suburban "bookends", east of the Conestoga Parkway and west of Westmount). The Liberals, recognizing that the fate of Harris hinges upon seats like this, are fielding Berry Vrbanovic, a municipal councillor. Meanwhile, Kitchener's intermittent old-urban and working-class undercurrent means that the NDP's definitely there, lurking in the shadows, mindful of their having gotten nearly half the local vote in '90, mindful of Boyd-Mathyssen potential in London, etc. Polls suggest that a red-blue tussle is more likely...but as we know, in the midst of an election campaign, things can change in funny ways. And as we know, Kitchener Centre is supposedly a microcosm of Ontario. So look to the possibility of a major daily choosing this as ground zero for a weekly campaign profile feature...
	05/09/99	Phil Allt	Email: pallt@uoguelph.ca
This riding is too close to call. As campaign manager of the David Brohman campaign I am being very realistic when I state that we are running a campaign to win. The Waterloo Region Labour Council is supporting our candidate even though the OFL has stated that it believes this riding is too close to call. My union OSSTF and the Steelworkers have released full time staff into the riding because we believe this to be a winnable riding.
	05/16/99	Birkin Culp	Email:
With provincial support for the NDP in the cellar and a traditionally weak presence in Kitchener, the NDP campaign manager's comments are simply not credible. Two or three time released "volunteers" are not going to ensure a NDP victory. This riding will be won by a Liberal or Conservative and judging by PC signage in the City the Grits face an uphill battle. As with other ridings which are tightly contested, watch for the debate and next week's polls to determine who represents the people of Kitchener-Centre.
	05/19/99	G. Bell	Email: sbell@nonline.net
Wettlaufer owes his seat to the Lib-NDP vote split in 95 at a time when most PC candidates (including some who only responded to the newspaper ads for candidates) won a plurality. Some may vote for him as a result of the decision to preserve St. Marys Hospital, although in practice, he probably had no influence on the decision -- no doubt the policy wonks in the Premier's office, plus Liz Witmer had more to do with investing in a well known swing riding. The Liberal candidate will benefit from having a relatively low profile as a municipal councillor -- he'll have name recognition, but not be attached to any controversial decisions that could affect voting.
	05/23/99	lrsl	Email:
this riding will be decided on how high the NDP vote will be on election day. Tories will need a split vote since candidate is weak-Liberal campaign not visible based on drive through riding compared to past elections. The delayed Conservative nomination battle did not help with the campaign
	06/02/99	spg	Email: sgunz@uwaterloo.ca
I'm wondering about the comments re low visibility in the riding of Liberal presence. My sense is that liberal signs are a good deal more prevalent than in other campaigns although I never know the significance of this in terms of votes. Many of the Tory signs seem to be on vacant land, road sides etc rather than at homes. Again, I am only taking issue with the comment about presence, not how that translates since I just don't know.

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