Ontario Election 2025: A crowded race in the long-held Conservative riding of Sarnia—Lambton

In a busy race to Queen's Park, nine candidates are vying for the Sarnia—Lambton seat — a riding that's been conservative for nearly 20 years.

Here's who's running, in alphabetical order:

(Incumbent) Bob Bailey - PC Party of Ontario

Incumbent Bob Bailey has held the MPP seat for the PC Party since 2007. 

He is from Petrolia and worked for NOVA Chemicals for more than 30 years. 

Bailey declined CBC's request for an interview. 

On his candidate Facebook page, Bailey notes priorities including job training in the skilled trades, clearing encampments from public parks and new investments in shelters, and connecting Ontarians with family doctors. 

He also says his party will work to protect livelihoods in the event of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs with investments and funding for businesses to retool and attract new customers.

Keith Benn - New Blue Party of Ontario

New Blue Party of Ontario candidate Keith Benn grew up in the area and is a geologist with 17 years of experience teaching at the University of Ottawa.

"I'm running because I firmly believe that we need to reignite a spark that will become a raging fire of common sense conservatism in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario," he said. 

"The PC party has dropped the c and now they're just progressivists," he said, explaining that the New Blue Party is on the centre-right to right of the political spectrum.

His priorities are promoting the development of the agri-food industry in the region as well as the expansion of the industrial base in Sarnia-Lambton, which he worries has stalled a little bit due to what he describes as the "so-called climate crisis."

Jacques Boudreau - Ontario Libertarian Party

Jacques Boudreau with the Ontario Libertarian Party is a professional actuary with 38 years of experience working in the life insurance industry. 

He moved to the region about a year go, and before that, lived in London, Ont.

His top priorities in this election are to address what he describes as "excessive regulation and red tape," personal liberties and financial responsibility in the government.

"My jam, as young people would say, is mostly on the fiscal side of things. Part of my job for many years was to make sure that my employer had set aside the necessary amount of money to pay for promises made to our customers. So this is something that's dear to my heart because governments do not behave that way. It's outrageous, actually," he said. 

"The other thing that's very important to me is personal freedom, individual liberty. And this is in retreat. Governments are getting bigger all the time and you cannot have large governments and freedom at the same time."

Nathan Colquhoun - Independent

Independent candidate Nathan Colquhoun previously served as councillor for the City of Sarnia. He is also the owner of The Sarnia Journal. 

He describes himself as a "politically active" person who deeply cares about the community, pointing to housing as one the biggest issues facing the region.

Colquhoun feels the area is largely ignored by leaders at Queen's Park.

"If we're going to be electing someone to be in Toronto and representing Sarnia-Lambton's interests, then we should have somebody that's there that actually understands Sarnia-Lambton, that lives in Sarnia Lambton and wants to see us represented in Toronto," he said. 

"And not just having another Conservative Party member that's just doing whatever Ford is doing. A lot of what Ford is doing has nothing to do with us. And so we're just being ignored. And I think that I would have a better way of getting more things done for our community."

Mark Lamore - Ontario Party

Mark Lamore, who lives in Sarnia, is running for the Ontario Party. 

"Our motto is freedom, family and faith," he said.

"There's a lot of people out there that are just very unhappy with the current political climate in both Ontario and ... in our country in general and what we're trying to do is offer an honest approach, to bring a new approach to facilitating these issues."

He points to education and healthcare as his top priorities, explaining that he feels inefficiencies have "plagued" those systems for a long time.

He is currently working toward getting his AZ ticket to be a truck driver.

Pamela Reid - Green Party of Ontario

Pamela Reid is running for the Green Party of Ontario.

She is a teacher and small business owner with a background in environment and sustainability.

The party said she was not available to take part in interviews. 

Tom Stoukas - Populist Ontario

Holding the banner for the Populist Ontario party is Tom Stoukas. 

CBC reached out to him for an interview but did not hear back.

Rachel Willsie - Ontario Liberal Party

Ontario Liberal Party candidate Rachel Willsie grew up in Lambton County in a community of farmers and has spent 15 years in healthcare working as a nurse and nurse educator.

A top priority for Willsie is addressing a number of critical needs within the healthcare system like improving access to a family doctor, and reducing emergency department wait times. She also pointed to major issues within the education system and a need for more housing supports.

"There's the lack of social housing. We've got encampments ... all over the city at this point. And a lot of what's caused these issues are fundamentally not being addressed. So the mental health, the addictions, access to support service, we are really in a legitimate crisis in Sarnia Lambton, and it's continued to grow," she said.

"These issues have not in any regard gotten any better. They've gotten much worse over the last 10 to 15 years."

Candace Young - Ontario NDP

Candace Young, the Ontario NDP candidate for the riding, is Anishnaabe and a member of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation. 

She is born and raised in Sarnia, works as a math professor at Lambton College and is the vice-president for OPSEU Local 125 representing staff at the college.

"Because of my activism in the labour union and also because of my activism for being an active participant in truth and reconciliation, I believe meaningful action is important and we need to make sure that we support the people who are doing meaningful actions for people and putting people first," she said.

"I do believe that an NDP government will do that and me as an MPP will also do that for Sarnia-Lambton."

Her priorities as candidate are improving access to affordable housing, access to healthcare and education.