Pundits' Guide

Getting back to reality after two weeks at the lake. I’ll start by catching up with the candidates who were actually nominated this past week, and one whose nomination has been cancelled. Then tomorrow I’ll catch up with the rest of the news.

• Richmond – Arthabaska, QC – As we previously reported, Louis Bérubé was acclaimed the Liberal candidate in this eastern townships riding this past August 10. Liberal Québec lieutenant, M.P. Denis Coderre’s attendance at the meeting generated a bit of election speculation. The riding is currently held by three-term Bloc Québécois M.P. André Bellavance.
• Argenteuil – Papineau – Mirabel, QC – The son of former long-time Liberal M.P. Francis Fox, 25-year old Daniel Fox, was acclaimed the Liberal candidate in this riding on August 12, reports l’Argenteuil. The western Québec seat is currently held by Coderre’s counterpart, long-time Bloc Québécois M.P. and organizer Mario Laframboise. Fox has promised to relocate permanently to Lachute should he be successful against Laframboise, although he’s starting 30 points back, based on the last election.
• Thunder Bay – Superior North, ON – Meanwhile, in a contested nomination further north on the same night, Liberals selected lawyer Yves Fricot as their candidate to take on Conservative candidate Michael Auld and first-time NDP M.P. Bruce Hyer. Fricot won on the second ballot with 1096 eligible voters, reported TBNewsWatch.com (see the comments for some local colour and background). By contrast, just 100 eligible voters determined the Conservative candidate there last month, NetNewsLedger.com pointed out.
• Ancaster – Dundas – Flamborough – Westdale, ON – Former CHCH-TV broadcaster Dan McLean was to be acclaimed the Liberal candidate August 12 as well, reported the Hamilton Spectator. This riding in the Golden Horseshoe, outside Hamilton, is currently represented by two-term Conservative M.P. David Sweet.
• Chatham-Kent – Essex, ON – Libs – City councillor Steve Pickard won the contested Liberal nomination being called “the battle of the Liberal legacies” by the Chatham Daily News on Thursday August 13, beating 2008 candidate Matt Daudlin, also the son of a former Liberal M.P. This southwestern Ontario riding is now held by two-term Conservative M.P. Dave Van Kesteren. (h/t the Liberal Scarf blog)
• Essex, ON – On Friday night, Kingsville Mayor Nelson Santos was acclaimed the new Liberal candidate in this Windor-area riding, once the preserve of the Whelan-Liberal legacy, broken for two terms by NDP M.P. Steven Langdon from 1984-1993, and now held by two-term Conservative M.P. Jeff Watson, who weighed in on whether his new opponent should continue to serve as mayor once nominated. The riding was a three-way race last time, and 2008 NDP candidate Taras Natyshak also appears set to run again, according to his Facebook page.
• Prince Edward – Hastings, ON – Also on Friday, 2008 Liberal candidate Ken Cole was acclaimed for a second run against three-term Conservative M.P. Daryl Kramp. Note that there are two Ken Cole’s in this database, the other being Ken Cole the 2000 NDP candidate in Mississauga South, ON.
• London – Fanshawe, ON – Thanks to a recent commenter for bringing to our attention that first-time candidate and London businessman Jamal (Jim) Chahbar was acclaimed by the Conservatives as their nominee in this riding on August 14. The riding is currently held by two-term NDP M.P. Irene Mathyssen, and we earlier covered 2008 Liberal candidate Jacquie Gauthier’s interest in running again here as well. I located a little political and family history about Mr. Chahbar on another blog here.
• Jeanne-Le Ber, QC – Lib – More intell from a commenter about the state of the Liberal race in this Montréal-Verdun riding, in which we first reported that unsuccessful 2008 Liberal nomination candidate, entrepreneur Marc Bruneau, was interested in running again, and later reported the news heard by one of our commenters that he might be obtaining the nomination through an appointment by the Leader. Now a commenter on the Liberal Scarf blog is claiming that Bruneau “is no longer the liberal canadidate in Jeanne Leber. Nomination cancelled.” Given that the nomination meeting was scheduled for Sunday August 16, I guess it’s back to the drawing board there. The riding was narrowly held by two-term Bloc Québécois M.P. Thierry St-Cyr in the last election, making it a Liberal target, but also met the threshold for a four-way race and is thus being eyed by the NDP as well, whose 2008 candidate, former Parti Vert founder Daniel Breton was seen at the mike debating environment and energy resolutions this past weekend (that’s the name you were looking for on Saturday at 2:16 p.m., Kady).

OK, that’s a wrap for now. Back tomorrow night with the rest of the nomination news catch-up.

Tags: 41st General Election Nominations, Conservatives, Liberals