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Mississauga-Streetsville is a relatively new riding, created in the 2004 redistribution. The big question on Oct. 14 is whether the riding belongs to Wajid Khan or the Liberals.

Now running for the Conservatives, Khan was elected in 2004, and then re-elected in 2006, as a Liberal. The area that the riding comprises has elected Liberals since 1993.

Khan crossed the floor of Parliament in Jan. 2007, about six months after Stephen Harper first named him a special adviser on the Middle East and Central Asia.  Still a Liberal when he made a fact-finding trip to the Middle East, Khan encountered criticism from his own party. His report from the trip was never made public.

In an April 1, 2007 appearance on CTV's Question Period (a time of fevered election speculation), Khan -- a businessman and former pilot in Pakistan's air force -- brushed off any suggestion that his crossing the floor would hurt his chances.

"The people of Mississauga-Streetsville are educated, they understand issues in Canada. It's a business riding as well and they vote for the government and the member of Parliament that delivers," he said.

Khan's Liberal opponent this time will be consultant and community volunteer Bonnie Crombie, who worked for Etobicoke-Lakeshore MP Michael Ignatieff during the 2006 Liberal leadership race.

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion made an appearance in the riding on Sept. 10 to call for more women in Canadian politics, noting that 38 per cent of Liberal candidates in this election are women.

Khan has said in media interviews that he's been able to get more done for the riding as a Conservative MP that he could as a Liberal MP when that party was in power.

The other candidates:

• Ralph Bunag, Independent
• Otto Casanova, Green
• Keith Pinto, NDP
• Viktor Spanovic, Independent 

Riding geography, demography

Streetsville is the heart of old Mississauga, with a classic 19th century small-town-Ontario business district along Queen Street South.

The riding shares a boundary with Halton, where incumbent MP Garth Turner, after being tossed from the Conservative caucus, joined the Liberals.

Mississauga-Streetsville is bordered by four other ridings:

• Wellington-Halton Hills (Conservative)
• Brampton West (Liberal)
• Mississauga-Brampton South (Liberal)
• Mississauga-Erindale (Liberal)

The Tories have hopes to hold and make gains in the so-called 905 belt of the Greater Toronto Area, and Mississauga-Streetsville is almost the buckle of that belt.

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper paid a visit to Mississauga South, home of Liberal MP Paul Szabo, earlier in the campaign.

The riding is bordered by Britannia Road West, Erin Mills Parkway and Eglinton Avenue West in the south and the northwest limits of Mississauga in the north, between Ninth Line West in the west and Mississauga Road, Highway 401, Mavis Road, Britannia Road West and Terry Fox Way in the east.

A geographic analysis by the Toronto Star of Mississauga-Streetsville's 2006 vote shows solid Conservative support in the centre of the riding, between Brittania Road and the 401 and east of the Erindale Parkway.

With 130,025 residents, Mississauga-Streetsville is the third-most populous of Ontario's 106 ridings. It's also more affluent than most. The 2005 median income for all census families was $81,100, compared to $69,156 for Ontario and $68,866 for Canada.

• Nine per cent of people are considered low-income after taxes, compared to about 11 per cent for Ontario and Canada as a whole.
• More than 80 per cent of private residences are owned. As a result, most people who called the riding home five years ago still do so today.
• The riding is primarily residential, but there is some manufacturing taking place here, along with warehousing operations.
• Immigrants make up 46.5 per cent of the riding's population.
• Visible minorities make up 48 per cent of Mississauga-Streetsville, with South Asians the largest single group, followed by the Chinese.

CTV Toronto's Tom Hayes will be hosting a town hall at 6 p.m. on Wednesay at Cuchulainn's Irish Pub at 158 Queen St. S. in Mississauga. Everyone is welcome.

Comments are now closed for this story

Pete
Mississauga - Streetsville belongs to only one person ... Hazel McCallion. She is the only one who ever gets things done, when she says she will, and no federal politician in the riding can come close to her scruples.

Steve Daly, Mississauga-Streetsville
Mr Khan didn't cross the floor for personal gain, he did it because the Dion wouldn't trust someone who was working for peace and understanding between cultures.

Mr. Khan has my vote.

JK
Mr. Khan is just another one of Harper's puppets. Doesn't deserve to be elected in my opinion and this riding will stay Liberal much to Mr. Kahn's dismay.