Yasir Naqvi said he is “feeling the same sense of support” as he attempts to hold onto the riding of Ottawa Centre in the April 28 federal election.
He does face a serious challenge from former NDP MPP Joel Harden, who has already defeated Naqvi once in the 2018 provincial vote in Ottawa Centre.
The riding, which encompasses much of downtown Ottawa including Parliament Hill, has flipped between the Liberals and NDP over the years at the federal and provincial levels.
Former NDP MP Paul Dewar held it from 2006 to 2015 before former environment minister Catherine McKenna took it back for the Liberals in the 2015 election that brought Justin Trudeau to power.
In the 2021 election, Naqvi — who had represented the riding provincially — took over from McKenna and won it with 45 per cent of the vote.
Harden represented the riding provincially for the NDP from 2018 to 2025. In the Feb. 27 Ontario election, former Ottawa city councillor and mayoral candidate Catherine McKenney easily maintained the NDP’s hold on the seat at Queen’s Park by nearly 20,000 votes.
Former Canadian Armed Forces member Paul D’Orsonnens is the Conservative candidate in a riding the Tories have not won since a 1978 byelection in which Robert de Cotret took the seat before losing to Liberal John Evans in the 1979 general election.
“After more than 45 years of Liberal and NDP representation in Ottawa Centre, the riding needs a change and a fresh and new voice on Parliament Hill,” states the campaign website for D’Orsonnens, who spent 35 years in the Armed Forces. “Paul’s new leadership will bring common sense change for our community”
The Green candidate is Amanda Rosenstock “who is ready to leverage her experience as a policy analyst and community organizer to represent the residents of Ottawa Centre,” says her website. “She will work hard to deliver world class public transit, affordable homes, and healthcare when and where we need it.”
After more than 45 years of Liberal and NDP representation in Ottawa Centre, the riding needs a change and a fresh and new voice on Parliament Hill.
— Message on the campaign website of Conservative candidate Paul D’Orsonnens
In 2022, Ottawa area ridings were redistributed as part of an electoral district review every 10 years to reflect population changes. As part of this redistribution, the McKellar Park and Clarington neighbourhoods on the west side of Ottawa Centre moved to Ottawa-West Nepean. To make up for this, Ottawa Centre gained neighborhoods around Mooney’s Bay, Riverside Park and Heron Park, which had previously been part of Ottawa South.
Naqvi says many of the people who live in areas where the boundaries have been redrawn were not aware of the changes.
“One of the things that I have been doing since last August is knocking on doors in the new part of the riding and introducing myself to people and letting them know that the boundary change will take effect when the election is called, so they’re not totally surprised,” said Naqvi.
Naqvi said it won’t be clear until election day how the boundary changes will affect the results. But he said he believes the riding remains more or less the same in terms of his party’s chance of winning.
We are pushing the federal government to provide operating funding to municipalities to improve public transit and strengthen our cities.
— Message on the campaign website of NDP candidate Joel Harden
Naqvi said 80 per cent of what he’s hearing when knocking on doors is related to Donald Trump and Canada’s political and economic independence. Aside from the threats from the U.S., he said he has also been hearing about the housing market and the desire to revitalize downtown Ottawa.
The Liberal party has seen a dramatic spike in the polls since Justin Trudeau’s resignation and the trade war with the U.S.
According to poll-tracker 338 Canada, after being down by nearly 30 points to the Conservatives in polling averages in December, the Liberals are ahead of the Conservatives by about five points.
Based on this polling average, 338 Canada says Ottawa Centre is a safe Liberal seat.
Naqvi credits new Liberal leader and prime minister Mark Carney — former governor of both the Bank of Canada and Bank of England — for the turnaround.
“Amanda is ready to leverage her experience as a policy analyst and community organizer to represent the residents of Ottawa Centre. She will work hard to deliver world class public transit, affordable homes, and healthcare when and where we need it.”
— Message at campaign website of Green candidate Amanda Rosenstock
“They feel that he has the right experience in helping Canadians in this time of crisis given his experience in dealing with the financial crisis in 2008 — or how he helped the United Kingdom with Brexit — is the kind of expertise Canada needs,” said Naqvi.
Harden is making public transit a primary issue in his campaign and has a section on his campaign website that explains his plan to push the federal government to provide operating funding to municipalities to improve bus and rail service.
He calls for a direct allocation-based funding system so that municipalities receive regular injections of transit operating money from the federal government.
“In cities across Canada, residents are dealing with public transit that cannot meet their current needs without funding from higher levels of government,” states the campaign website. “We are pushing the federal government to provide operating funding to municipalities to improve public transit and strengthen our cities.”
Advanced polls will be open across the riding from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. between April 18 and April 21. Voters can also vote by mail if they apply for a ballot by April 22. Voting day is April 28.
