Wellington-Halton Hills, as a riding, was created in 2004 out of parts from four different ridings. In that first election, Conservative Michael Chong beat Liberal candidate Bruce Hood by a little over four points, but since then Chong has enjoyed double-digit victories including his 2011 general election victory with 63.7 per cent of the vote. So he’s invulnerable, right?


Not so fast. The demographics in Wellington-Halton Hills have been changing in recent years. Exurban areas like Georgetown, Acton, and perhaps even Fergus are seeing an influx of people from Toronto and the areas that immediately around Toronto, people who lean more small ‘L’ liberal than voters in the rural areas of the riding, but is it enough to block Chong from his seventh straight victory?


Melanie Lang hopes so. She’s the Liberal candidate this time for Wellington-Halton Hills. Like Chong she’s a Fergus resident, and like Chong she’s spent years working in the business world but in marketing and consumer studies. Her consultancy business focuses on rural economic development and regional innovation systems, and she's also been a board member for the Centre Wellington Community Foundation, 4-H Ontario, and the Guelph Chamber of Commerce. Can she add MP to her CV?


On this week's podcast, Lang will talk about why she will be a good fit for the area, and why she thinks Michael Chong is vulnerable in this election. She will also talk about her family’s political past, and how the pandemic has changed the way she wanted to campaign. And finally, she will discuss the casual misogyny she’s encountered on the campaign trail, the anger being directed at her and her party, and how she can defend a government she had no part in creating.


So let's talk about Lang the Liberal on this this edition of the Wellington Halton-Hills Politicast!


To learn more about Melanie Lang’s campaign, you can visit his website here.


NOTE: You will be able to hear interviews with all of the Federal election candidates running in Guelph every Monday on the podcast version of Open Sources Guelph, and every Thursday at 5 pm on CFRU 93.3 fm or cfru.ca!


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