The riding of Hamilton East – Stoney Creek is a key riding to watch in the upcoming April 28 federal election.
Just three months ago, Conservative Party of Canada candidate Ned Kuruc looked set to easily win the riding.
However, after Justin Trudeau’s resignation and a dramatic shift in the polls, Liberal incumbent Chad Collins is in the more favourable position.
It was initially unclear whether or not Collins would even run again, with the politician saying during the Liberal leadership race that he would step aside if Mark Carney was not chosen as leader.
Meanwhile, Kuruc, who also ran for the Conservatives in the 2021 election, has been building support, including from former Liberal Party Member of Parliament (MP) Bob Bratina who represented the riding from 2015 to 2021.
In a video posted on Kuruc’s social media, Bratina calls Mark Carney “the worst guy imaginable for steel for Hamilton and for Canada” because of Carney’s industrial carbon tax.
In addition to being supported by Bratina, Kuruc is also endorsed by former Stoney Creek Councillor Doug Conley and former Hamilton Mountain Progressive Conservative MP Duncan Beattie.
It should be noted that Hamilton East–Stoney Creek now includes Upper Stoney Creek in addition to East Hamilton, Lower Stoney Creek, Fruitland, Winona, and the Beach Strip.
In the 2021 election, Kuruc received 28 per cent of the vote, while Collins received 36.9 per cent and the NDP received 25.6 per cent.
With 49,793 people in the riding voting, Kuruc came only 4,424 votes short and earned the second highest percentage of the vote of any federal Conservative candidate since the riding’s creation in 2004.
With the riding considered key for a Conservative victory on election night, The Hamilton Independent spoke one-on-one with Kuruc about his campaign.
Kuruc, a father of three, says he took his 2021 election loss “on the chin.”
“We looked at what we did wrong and where we needed to improve. I then began my involvement with Pierre Poilievre’s leadership campaign, knocked on more doors, built a bigger team, and connected with more residents,” he added.
He says that he has been working “every day for two years connecting with residents” and that he is “confident” that he will be elected on April 28 and surpass his 28 per cent vote share.
Despite the national polls, when it comes to the riding itself, Kuruc says that what he hears at the door “tells a very different story.”
Kuruc notes that he has knocked on “thousands” of doors in Hamilton East – Stoney Creek, including some multiple times.
“We won’t stop knocking on doors and connecting with voters. The future for families, the youth, and our seniors is at stake.”
Asked about Bratina’s endorsement, Kuruc says, “It means a lot to have the support of Bob.”
“Bob’s decision comes from his concern over the failed policies of the Liberal government, which he acknowledges are driving up the cost-of-living, making life unaffordable for Canadians, and ultimately destroying the Canadian promise that the next generation will have a better life than the generation before them.”
He says that the number one issue he hears at the doors is affordability and cost-of-living.
“The number one issue has always been affordability and cost-of-living. People have been hurting over the last ten years. Families can’t plan for the future because they don’t know how to make it to tomorrow. They need hope and want change.”
“While the tariffs have come up at the doors, people know that the reason the tariffs are in place is because of the failures of the Liberal government. We can’t get resources out of the ground, we have failed on immigration, and failed on crime,” he adds.
He concludes that only Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives will “put Canada First and restore the promise this country was built on.”
It remains to be seen whether or not Kuruc will be able to turn the riding blue federally for the first time in its modern history.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
