The Conservatives have a new candidate in northwestern Ontario this afternoon:

• Thunder Bay – Superior North, ON - This contested Conservative nomination meeting must have been a real nail-biter, because NetNewsLedger.com is reporting this afternoon that it was won "in a coin toss" by former Buchanan Forest Products manager Michael Auld over Nipigon Mayor Richard Harvey. We'll have to stay tuned to see what that meant exactly, but it appears the race is now decided. [UPDATE: It *was* a nail-biter, reports TBNewsWatch.com: of 120 people voting, the result was a tie, and party rules dictated the outcome be settled by coin-toss.] The riding is currently represented by first-time NDP M.P. Bruce Hyer, and also has a pending contested Liberal nomination underway (date undetermined) being contested by three candidates: 2008 candidate Don McArthur, lawyer Yves Fricot, and Thunder Bay city councillor Joe Virdiramo.

In other generic nomination news, Jane Taber's column in today's Globe is reporting another big-name-no-riding-specified Liberal candidate rumour. Her BC source is saying Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff has apparently promised recently-defeated B.C. Attorney-General Wallace Oppal the Justice portfolio if he runs as a federal Liberal in the next election. Oppal previously represented Vancouver-Fraserview provincially, but moved over to Delta South in the last election to make room for former police chief Kash Heed, and wound up losing there to independent candidate Vicki Huntington. The former riding (I'm eyeballing it here) looks to be inside Vancouver South, BC federally (currently represented by Liberal M.P. Ujjal Dosanjh), while the latter seems to be contained in Delta – Richmond East, BC (now held by Conservative M.P. John Cummins).

Hey I like to hear from BC sources too (or really any sources from anywhere), and I bet mine are just as good. Drop a line with any nomination or candidate news you've heard, and then follow all the latest on Twitter @punditsguide.

Labels: 41st General Election Nominations, Conservatives, Liberals