Poilievre and Carney vie for seats in side-by-side ridings

The front-runners in the race to be Canada's next prime minister have to convince local voters to give them a seat in the House, and their individual battlegrounds are side-by-side.

This will be Pierre Poilievre's eighth election in the sprawling and mainly rural riding of Carleton, after winning it for the first time as a 25-year-old in 2004. Carleton curves under the more urban and suburban riding of Nepean, where Mark Carney is now running, after the Liberal party revoked the nomination of the incumbent Chandra Arya.

CBC set out to talk to local voters in those two ridings tasked with deciding the fate of the national party leaders — at the riding level.

Tim Britten's two dogs enjoy romps at Bruce Pit, where sometimes the talk among humans turns to politics. "Heated at times, we'll say," says Britten. "It's going to be interesting."

 Britten grew up in Cape Breton, N.S., in a family of avowed Liberals. But he's cut from a different cloth.

"I like Pierre. I've followed Pierre's career since he started," said Britten. "He says what's on his mind. In my mind, he's probably the only one that will stand up to the ... gentleman south of the border."

Who will spearhead the pushback against President Donald Trump, is top of mind for many.

Georgia Dryden thinks Carney is the better choice to handle tariff threats and the 51st state jingoism.

"Someone who's got a strong economic background could be who we need against Trump. We need someone to stand up to a bully," said Dryden, who thinks Carney has a global outlook with a proven ability to forge bonds in Europe. "How do you confront a bully? You all get together and you say no.

"I think he's who we need right now," said Dryden.

Kathy Watt has close relatives in the Liberal fold. Her nephew is the newly elected Nepean Liberal MPP Tyler Watt. But she also has a soft spot for the New Democrats. 

"I want them to do well, but I just don't think they have the … pulse of this whole American-Canadian global dilemma that we're finding ourselves in," said Watt.

She's hoping the new government will prioritize housing. A newly retired child welfare worker, she saw people forced to live in their cars, or couch-surf, or go without heat, or rely on a food bank to feed their kids.

Jilie Li is a software developer, formerly of Nortel and Telus, who lives in a large house in a subdivision off Cedarview Rd. close to the western border between Nepean and Carleton.