Aug 10, 2024 - 15:47
By cbc.ca

2 federal party leaders fight for votes in Hamilton with seats up for grabs ahead of next election

As polling shows ridings up for grabs in the Hamilton region, politicians from three federal parties visited the city within the last eight days to promote policies and gain support from locals.

But two experts tell CBC Hamilton it's the Conservatives who seem to have the upper hand, despite the fact that Hamilton elected just one Tory MP in 2021.

On Friday morning, Conservative Party of Canada Leader Pierre Poilievre was at steelmaker Stelco to promote an economic plan including tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles and parts.

At the same time, over at downtown event space Mills Hardware, local Liberal members of parliament Filomena Tassi, Chad Collins and Lisa Hepfner highlighted federal investment into festivals and events such as Hamilton's Supercrawl and Theatre Aquarius.

And last week, federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was in Hamilton to meet local politicians and make the case to end federal funding for bad corporate landlords.

Although he cautions not to make too much of summer tours, Peter Graefe, an associate professor of political science at McMaster University, says it's likely that a number of Hamilton ridings will be competitive.

For example, polling research from 338Canada shows four local Liberal seats leaning Conservative:

Burlington
Burlington North—Milton West
Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas
Hamilton East—Stoney Creek

The 338Canada model shows the currently Liberal Hamilton Mountain riding represented by Lisa Hepfner, as a Conservative-NDP toss-up.

Overall, Graefe said, there has been a «significant weakening of the Liberal vote and a strengthening of the Conservative one,» especially in suburban areas.