James Cumming (Canadian politician)

James Cumming (born March 7, 1961)^[2] is a Canadian politician who was elected to represent the riding of Edmonton Centre in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2019 Canadian federal election.^[3] Cumming formerly served as the President and CEO of the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce.^[4] Cumming is a member of the Conservative Party of Canada. He succeeded and preceded Liberal politician Randy Boissonault as the MP for Edmonton Centre, having run in the 2015 Canadian federal election and placed second before he was elected in 2019. In the 2021 Canadian federal election, he was again defeated by Boissonnault. In 2024, he faced a contested nomination contest that was won by Sayid Ahmed on October 6, 2024.

James Cumming
Cumming in Edmonton in 2019
Member of Parliament for Edmonton Centre
In office October 21, 2019 – September 20, 2021
Preceded by	Randy Boissonnault
Succeeded by	Randy Boissonnault
Personal details
Born	(1961-03-07) March 7, 1961 (age 64) Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Political party	Conservative
Residence(s)	Edmonton, Alberta[1]

Member of Parliament

During the 43rd Canadian Parliament Cumming introduced one private member's bill: Bill C-229, An Act to repeal certain restrictions on shipping which sought to repeal the previous parliament's Oil Tanker Moratorium Act. It was brought to a vote on February 3, 2021, but defeated with only Conservative Party members voting in favour.^[5] On November 29, 2019, Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer appointed Cumming to be the party's critic for Small Business and Export Promotion.^[6] In the 2020 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election he endorsed Peter MacKay.^[7] After Erin O'Toole won the leadership election, he appointed Cumming to be the critic for Innovation, Science and Industry on September 8, 2020.^[8] On February 10, 2021, Cumming was appointed to a newly created position, critic for COVID-19 economic recovery.^[9]

Electoral record

v t e 2021 Canadian federal election: Edmonton Centre
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Randy Boissonnault	16,560	33.7	+0.6	$109,821.36
	Conservative	James Cumming	15,945	32.4	-9.05	$81,069.18
	New Democratic	Heather MacKenzie	14,171	28.8	+8.16	$50,495.97
	People's	Brock Crocker	2,094	4.3	+2.78	$3,172.62
	Libertarian	Valerie Keefe	266	0.5	-	$0.00
	Marxist–Leninist	Merryn Edwards	112	0.2	+0.05	$0.00
Total valid votes/expense limit			49,148	–	–	$110,160.12
Total rejected ballots			342
Turnout			49,490
Eligible voters			78,769
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing		+4.83
Source: Elections Canada[10]

v t e 2019 Canadian federal election: Edmonton Centre
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	James Cumming	22,006	41.45	+6.50	none listed
	Liberal	Randy Boissonnault	17,524	33.01	-4.18	none listed
	New Democratic	Katherine Swampy	10,959	20.64	-3.81	$53,174.12
	Green	Grad Murray	1,394	2.63	+0.00	none listed
	People's	Paul Hookham	805	1.52	-	$5,550.42
	Rhinoceros	Donovan Eckstrom	206	0.39	-0.09	$0.00
	Independent	Adil Pirbhai	119	0.22		$3,475.90
	Marxist–Leninist	Peggy Morton	79	0.15	-	$0.00
Total valid votes/expense limit			53,092	99.32
Total rejected ballots			362	0.68	+0.24
Turnout			53,454	64.32	-2.72
Eligible voters			83,112
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing		+5.34
Source: Elections Canada[11][12][13]

v t e 2015 Canadian federal election: Edmonton Centre
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Randy Boissonnault	19,902	37.19	+13.46	$126,839.87
	Conservative	James Cumming	18,703	34.95	-11.25	$132,838.67
	New Democratic	Gil McGowan	13,084	24.45	-1.37	$109,525.67
	Green	David Parker	1,403	2.62	-0.94	$113.87
	Rhinoceros	Steven Stauffer	257	0.48	–	–
	Independent	Kat Yaki	163	0.30	–	$2,097.91
Total valid votes/expense limit			53,512	99.56		$211,594.41
Total rejected ballots			234	0.44	–
Turnout			53,746	67.04	–
Eligible voters			80,173
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing		+12.35
Source: Elections Canada[14][15]