The past week has seen the pace of nominations pick up, and it's set to step up a bit further this next week, continuing right through the middle of September. In addition to my regular Google Alerts and reader reports, I'd just like to give general credit once again to the Liberal Scarf who has been keeping a close eye on Liberal nominations, and from whom I picked up a number of these clippings. Due to the volume of recent activity, I'm sorry I can't give more specific item-by-item credit.

Let's start out by catching up with Denis Coderre's travels along Québec's north shore, and any other candidates who were nominated this past week.

• Berthier – Maskinongé, QC - As expected, Liberal Québec lieutenant Denis Coderre joined local party faithful this past Tuesday, August 25 to acclaim former PLQ MNA Francine Gaudet as the federal Liberal candidate in this riding, reported Le Nouvelliste. The riding is currently held by three-term Bloc Québécois M.P. Guy André.
• Saint-Maurice – Champlain, QC - L'Hebdo du St-Maurice reported on the following day's nomination meeting in Shawinigan, where Coderre welcomed the acclamation of municipal councillor France Beaulieu by 150 area Liberals this past Wednesday, August 26. Beaulieu will be facing two-term Bloc Québécois M.P. Jean-Yves Laforest. Her acclamation was assured after the withdrawal of 2008 candidate Ronald St-Onge Lynch, who told L'Hedbo du St-Maurice that the August timing of the nomination race saw him quite busy with other projects, and besides he did not want to make a $1000 contribution to the party as required by the riding association's rules which demand a non-refundable deposit of that amount for a candidate to run for the party nomination. Nevertheless, St-Onge Lynch still plans to run as an independent candidate, he says, and doesn't believe it will hurt his ability to work with the party should he be elected.
  
• Trois-Rivières, QC - Coderre did not get his man later that evening in the riding next door however, as Le Nouvelliste also reported this past week. Coderre was courting former ADQ House Leader Sébastien Proulx to run for the federal Liberals, but the former MNA demurred, citing not political disagreements with the federal Liberals (in fact, he listed a number of ADQ activists who are now joining the fray), but rather the pressures of a young family. However Trois-Rivières Liberals are said to be very unhappy with Coderre's recent focus on attracting former adéquistes to run federally and apparently don't want Proulx as their candidate, citing his attendance at Stephen Harper's rally last election. They prefer riding president John Boulet, the Nouvelliste story continues, and are apparently ready to take it to a contested nomination, although Boulet is still undecided "in spite of near unanimous support". Other potential Liberal candidates are also being discussed by the Mauricie regional Liberal Party, so adamently are they opposed to Proulx. Nevertheless, says the regional representative, as Liberals they would be reluctant to oppose any party appointment. The riding is currently represented by three-term Bloc Québécois M.P. Paule Brunelle. In each of these three adjacent riding, Liberals placed third behind the Conservatives in the last two elections, but did increase their vote in 2008.
  
• Laurier – Sainte-Marie, QC - Moving to the east island of Montréal, Liberals met to nominate their candidate this past Thursday, August 27. The Liberal Scarf blog is reporting that Philippe Allard was the only declared candidate and looks to have been acclaimed. The riding is of course represented by Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe who first won its predecessor riding as an Independent in 1990 after the untimely passing of former Liberal M.P. and working class firebrand, Jean-Claude Malépart.
  
• Lac-Saint-Louis, QC - The same evening, west island Liberals were expected to renominate their three-term M.P. Francis Scarpaleggia. I haven't found any news about the meeting, but am guessing it would only have been newsworthy had he been challenged, and thus assume he was acclaimed as expected. If you know otherwise, please drop us a line. Scarpaleggia won the riding in 2004 on the retirement of former Liberal M.P. Clifford Lincoln who was first elected in 1993. From 1984-1993, the riding's predecessor was represented by Conservative M.P. Bob Layton, the late father of current NDP Leader Jack Layton.
  
• Simcoe – Grey, ON - The Liberal nomination meeting in this riding was scheduled for Friday, August 28. So far I am unable to locate any news as to who was running and who was successful. The riding is currently held by three-term Conservative M.P. Helena Guergis, who has increased her margin of victory steadily since she narrowly defeated Liberal M.P. Paul Bonwick in 2004. Insta-update: it was 2008 candidate Andrea Matrosovs, unopposed, according to contacts of @Impolitical. Thanks for getting back to me so fast.
  

Next up, a few ridings whose nomination meetings have now been scheduled:

• Glengarry – Prescott – Russell, ON - The four-way contested Liberal nomination in this riding is now set to take place on Thursday, September 3. As we reported earlier, there are four candidates in the race: Russell Mayor Ken Hill, assistant Crown attorney Julie Bourgeois, Hawkesbury councillor Roch Greffe, and Liberal insider Maryanne Kampouris. The riding (home to Pundits' Guide power-source, Beau's All-Natural Brewery) is currently represented by two-term Conservative M.P. Pierre Lemieux.
  
• Ottawa – Orléans, ON - One of the first nomination contests to break out in the current election cycle seems likely to finally reach its conclusion the following week on Thursday, September 10, according to the Orléans Star. Running are municipal councillor Rainer Bloess, businesswoman Judith Cane and lawyer David Bertschi. The riding is now held by two-term Conservative M.P. Royal Galipeau.
  
• Northumberland – Quinte West, ON - Thursday, September 10 has officially been set for the Liberal nomination contest in this eastern Ontario riding, reports NorthumberlandView.ca. Running are businesswoman Kim Rudd, teacher Andrew McFadyen, and Brighton mayor Christine Herrington. The riding is currently represented by two-term Conservative M.P. Rick Norlock. Stan Grizzle was nominated for the Green Party at the end of March.

In other Québec nomination news:

• Rimouski-Neigette – Témiscouata – Les Basques, QC - 2008 Liberal candidate biologist Pierre Béland is said to be interested in running again, however he'll be out of the country until October 4, so it depends on the timing of the election, reported Radio-Canada. The riding is currently represented by first-term Bloc Québécois M.P. Claude Guimond, who was renominated in June. Béland had stepped down as Liberal candidate earlier in 2008, but was talked into running again by then-Leader Stéphane Dion. He placed second to Guimond, who retook the seat for his party from Bloc-turned-Independent M.P. Louise Thibault. Meanwhile, l'Avantage is reporting that 2008 Conservative candidate Gaston Noël will decide in September if he wants to run again, and while former NDP candidate Guy Caron is taking himself out of the running the riding reports that at least five potential candidates have been approached to run.
• Québec, QC - Québec Hebdo reports that Montcalm district chair and nutritionist Anne Gagné wants to run for the Liberal nomination here, saying it's always been "a dream of hers to be a member in Ottawa" and that "Mr. Coderre wants to have women on his team". A nomination meeting is likely for Monday, September 14 she says, but there may be other interested candidates. We earlier reported that former provincial cabinet minister Jean Leclerc was also considering running, after approaches this past June by both Denis Coderre and Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff. The winner will face six-term Bloc Québécois M.P. Christiane Gagnon.
  
• Outremont, QC - A new name has surfaced in the race for the Liberal nomination in this Montréal riding currently held by the only NDP M.P. in Québec, Thomas Mulcair, which the Liberals desperately want to win back. Doctor and founding president of Medecins d'Ailleurs Comlan Amouzou is running, according to Le Guide Montréal-Nord, which covered an event he attended earlier this week. There's a lot more rumour than hard information about who's in the running for that nomination: we reported last June that Denis Coderre had approached former La Presse columnist and Le Soleil editor Alain Dubuc, and more recently that former Liberal M.P. Martin Cauchon was still contemplating a run along with two other unnamed candidates.

Moving on to the rest of the country, now:

• Kingston and the Islands, ON - Small businessperson and NDP Riding President Daniel J. Beals has told his Facebook friends that he's taking the plunge and running for his party's federal nomination. No date has been set, but Beals says the next hurdle is for the riding association to request a nomination meeting, although he's rightfully staying out of that in favour of collecting signatures, and notes that other candidates may also be entering the race. 2008 candidate Brian Abrams has already received the Conservative nod, while Green candidate Eric Benoit Walton was renominated back in April. The riding is currently held by long-time Liberal M.P. and Commons Speaker Peter Milliken.
  
• Mississauga – Streetsville, ON - Mississauga city councillor Sue McFadden seems to have been headhunted by no less than the Prime Minister to run for the Conservative Party in this riding next time. McFadden was approached by local Conservatives, and met with the Prime Minister for 15 minutes on August 17, and agreed to let her name stand, reports the Mississauga News. A nomination meeting is scheduled for Friday September 11 to formalize her selection. The riding was won by first-time Liberal M.P. Bonnie Crombie, who defeated Liberal-turned-Conservative M.P. Wajid Khan. Khan was first elected as a Liberal in 2004, but accepted an advisory role to Prime Minister Harper on Afghanistan and Pakistan, and later crossed the floor. Winning the riding back was evidently a priority for the Liberals, as Crombie's campaign was financed exclusively by a $63K transfer from party headquarters, the Liberal riding association having been previously deregistered by Elections Canada after concerns were raised about loans made to it by businesses owned by Khan. Thanks to a commenter for drawing this clipping to our attention.
  
• Hamilton Centre, ON - Hamilton city councillor Bob Bratina is backing away from the chance to become the Liberal candidate in this riding, as a fall election would interfere with his desire to finish out his municipal term, reports the Hamilton Spectator. Columnist Andrew Dreschel said observers felt Bratina had "a good shot at breaking the NDP's grip" on the riding, and indeed Bratina says he is not ruling anything out "down the road". The riding is currently represented by three-term NDP M.P. Dave Christopherson, who has been elected with 46% of the vote or better on the last three outings.
  
• Hamilton East – Stoney Creek, ON - Meanwhile Dreschel reports that another municipal councillor, Maria Pearson, is the subject of rumours to the effect that she's the likely Liberal nominee in this riding. Pearson says she "can't say for sure whether she's officially running", but notes that she has not even been "officially approached". Former Hamilton mayor and 2008 Liberal candidate Larry Di Ianni has been scouting for his replacement, as we reported earlier, when he was rebuffed by NDP city councillor Sam Merulla. The riding is currently represented by two-term NDP M.P. Wayne Marston.
• Huron – Bruce, ON - A three-way contest is shaping up for the Liberal nomination in this rural riding in western Ontario. Already announced are doctor and 2008 nomination candidate Martin Bokhout and educator Deb Homouth. They are now being joined by the mayor of Brockton, Charlie Bagnato, reports the Markdale Standard, with a meeting planned for some time in October. The riding is currently represented by first-time Conservative M.P. Ben Lobb, who won after the retirement of former Liberal M.P. Paul Steckle.
  
• Winnipeg South, MB - Thanks to a reader for getting in touch to advise that no other candidate has filed papers to contest the Liberal nomination in this riding, so it appears Terry Duguid will be acclaimed when the nomination meeting is held next Wednesday, September 2. The riding is currently by two-term Conservative M.P. Rod Bruinooge.
• Saanich – Gulf Islands, BC - A Canwest brief on the Green Party nomination race in this riding reported one interesting fact that I had not come across before: namely that Stuart Hertzog has not yet been accepted by the party as a candidate. As we reported here earlier, the Greens' nomination meeting is slated for September 19. The other candidate is of course Party leader Elizabeth May, who plans to officially announce on September 8, and has already selected 2008 Nanaimo – Alberni, BC candidate John Fryer to manage her campaign. The riding is now held by long-time Conservative M.P. Gary Lunn.
• Western Arctic, NT - 2008 Conservative candidate Brendan Bell tells the Northern News Service that the last election was "unfinished business" for him and he plans to run again, even if it's against his former territorial leader and cabinet colleague Joe Handley, who was nominated this past weekend to run for the Liberals. The riding is currently represented by two-term NDP M.P. Dennis Bevington. Bell came within 3.8% of the vote of defeating Bevington in 2008, with an uncharacteristically low Liberal vote and a drop in turnout. He also doubled Bevington's spending (99% of the limit to 47%).

I've sent out a few email inquiries to see if we can tie down some outstanding candidate details, and we still need to confirm the situation of a couple of new Green Party candidates that have appeared on the party website's list, but other than that, I think we now have a full lid. Phew.

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Labels: 41st General Election Nominations, Conservatives, Greens, Liberals, NDP