Some updates from the mailbag, news sources and even my first Twitter-sourced nomination news! (You can follow the Pundits' Guide on Twitter here):

• Pontiac, QC - Liberals are twittering about the entry of former party national director Greg Fergus into the nomination race in this western Québec riding that has been home to the 3rd or 4th closest four-way race in each of the last two elections. The riding is currently held by two-term Conservative M.P. Lawrence Cannon. An interesting sidebar: another former Liberal national director, Steve McKinnon, is rumoured to be interested in running in the neighbouring riding of Gatineau, QC, so if both nomination candidates are successful the Liberal Party would be represented by two former national directors and a former Québec lieutenant (Marcel Proulx in Hull – Aylmer QC) in the three Outaouais ridings.
• Haute-Gaspésie – La Mitis – Matane – Matapédia, QC - We also learned from @DenisCoderre on Twitter this evening that Nancy Charest was acclaimed at today's (June 13) meeting, making her the first Liberal candidate from Québec to be nominated (OK, they put out a news release about it on Canada Newswire for non-tweeters, too). The seat is noteworthy because four-time Bloc incumbent Jean-Yves Roy is retiring at the next election, and also because Ms. Charest placed a very close second to Mr. Roy in 2008. Ms Charest will join Bloc Québécois candidate Jean-François Fortin who was nominated on June 7, 2009. For new users of the Pundits' Guide, you can always view the state of nominations in Seats with Retiring Incumbents (amongst other categories) on the "Search the Database" page, under the heading "Nominations Progress".
• New Westminster – Coquitlam, BC - Meanwhile, right of Twitter we hear from @mpjamesmoore who attended a barbecue fundraiser for what he calls the forthcoming "by-election" (interesting!) earlier this evening, and reported later that 6 candidates were in the running, including "1 city councillor, 1 fmr MP, 3 men, 3 women, ethnically diverse field. Strong group". Of course I replied right away asking when the nomination meeting might be held. Will advise when I receive a response. The NDP is holding its nomination meeting on June 28, 2009 and the Green Party riding association is holding its Annual General Meeting on Monday, June 15, 2009 to set their own nomination plans.
  
• Compton – Stanstead, QC - Courtesy of a commenter at the blog "The Liberal Scarf", we learn that 2008 Liberal candidate William Hogg is hoping to return for a second try. Hogg ran second last time to three-term Bloc Québecois M.P. France Bonsant. The Liberal Scarf has assembled a pretty comprehensive list of potential Liberal candidates by the way.
  
• Sudbury, ON - We learn from the Sudbury Star of yet another aspiring Liberal candidate for this northern Ontario riding, former CBC Radio editor and the owner of Le Voyageur newspaper, Rejean Grenier. He joins declared candidates Gary Holman and Janet Gasparini, and potentially several other undeclared ones as well. No meeting date has been set. The victor will face first-time NDP M.P. Glenn Thibeault, and recently acclaimed Green Party candidate Fred Twilley.
• Northumberland – Quinte West, ON - Area Liberals have opened up their candidate search process by soliciting expressions of interest, and will follow up with interviews. Former two-term Liberal M.P. and 2006/2008 candidate Paul Macklin has not ruled out another run, but will take until the end of the month to decide, he told Mix97 News. No meeting date has been set as yet. The riding is currently held by two-term Conservative M.P. Rick Norlock. Also running will be Green candidate Stan Grizzle.
  

Paul Macklin is the 17th former Liberal M.P. whose name I have heard linked to an interest in running again, by the way.

Thanks to readers and tweeters for passing along nominations information. If you have news about nominations in your neck of the woods, please do drop me a line and pass it along.

Labels: 41st General Election Nominations, Liberals