The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

5 | W aterloo C hronicle | T hursday,O ctober 7,2021 w aterloochronicle.ca FREE DELIVERY IS A LIMITED TIME OFFER. SOME RESTRICTIONS APPLY. NO PROMO CODE REQUIRED 65 UNIVERSITY AVE. E WATERLOO (519) 725-5252 Thirteen years and four elections ago, Waterloo Re- gion was a sea of political blue. In 2008, when Stephen Woodworth won Kitche- ner-Centre, he joined Con- servative colleagues Har- old Albrecht, Peter Braid, and Gary Goodyear as our region's representatives in Ottawa. With just four fed- eral ridings at the time, Woodworth's election in 2008 signalled a complete turn of the tide, with Water- loo Region's political land- scape changing from all red to all blue. Ironically, Woodworth's 2008 win as a Conservative came exactly 20 years after he ran - and lost - as a Liber- al. But that's a story for an- other day. The story today is that, by years, we're a region not too far removed from polit- ical conservatism. Ideolog- ically, though, there's little arguing that our politics have shifted more rapidly than 13 years might sug- gest. Kitchener-Centre may be the best example. Prior to the election on Sept. 20, Kitchener-Centre had only once (in 2004) elected a member of parliament that was not also a member of the party that ultimately formed government. Granted, Kitchener- Centre did not even have a Liberal candidate this year who was actively cam- paigning. Still, rather than shift back toward the politi- cal right, the riding re- vealed an even more pro- gressive bent and elected the Green Party's Mike Morrice. Nowhere in our region is it more evident that our blue-collar, manufacturing roots have given way to trendy tech jobs filled by a young, highly-skilled work- force. Naturally, the politi- cal culture will also shift. Kitchener-South Hes- peler provides another in- teresting case study. Despite the Liberal brand being tarnished by the serious criminal charg- es levied against former MP Marwan Tabbara, the riding still elected another Liberal in political novice Valerie Bradford. Since its creation in 2015, the riding of Kitchener-South Hespel- er has only elected Liberal candidates. If any riding in Waterloo Region was going to be re- turned to the Conserva- tives this year, oddsmakers would have bet on the still largely rural Kitchener- Conestoga. Much has al- ready been written about Canada's rural-urban di- vide and the tendency for rural ridings to lean Con- servative while urban rid- ings lean Liberal. Clearly, the divide is not as distinct in our region and the urban voting ten- dencies have crossed into our townships. Adding to the intrigue in Kitchener-Conestoga was the fact that the out- come of 2015 and 2019 elec- tions - won once by a Con- servative and once by a Lib- eral - was decided by a mere 616 votes, combined. Still, Liberal Tim Louis managed to win re-election by 528 votes this year, keep- ing the Conservatives shut out of five federal seats in Waterloo Region. Considering the oppor- tunities around our region, not to mention the obvious shift to the political centre by leader Erin O'Toole, it could be argued that the Conservatives were let down by a slate of poor can- didates. They certainly didn't help their cause by passing up opportunities to speak to large audiences through media interviews and all- candidates forums. But this year's election results also speak to the changing demographics of our community, a shift that makes it less likely for the Conservatives to win with each passing election. Some may cringe at the description of Waterloo Re- gion as a "mini-Toronto" but, politically, we almost certainly are already. Columnist Mike Far- well is a broadcaster, MC and advocate. Follow him on Twitter at @far- well_WR, or connect with him via Mike.Far- well@rci.rogers.com. HOPES DIMMING FOR LOCAL CONSERVATIVES OPINION CANDIDATES CERTAINLY DIDN'T HELP THEIR CAUSE BY PASSING UP OPPORTUNITIES TO SPEAK, WRITES MIKE FARWELL MIKE FARWELL Column SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AT WATERLOOCHRONICLE.CA