This biggest nomination news this morning emanates from Québec:

• Outremont, QC - Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff yesterday backed up his Québec lieutenant Denis Coderre, saying that Coderre's decision to appoint a women candidate was good for party renewal and that former Outremont Liberal M.P. Martin Cauchon had a "promising future" in the Liberal Party. Apparently Ignatieff had called Cauchon Sunday night to deliver the news personally. One assumes this also puts an end to the earlier rumour that former La Presse columnist and Le Soleil editor Alain Dubuc was being tapped for the candidacy, and it also appears to put an end for now to the ambitions of nomination candidate Comlan Amouzou.
  

Meantime Le Devoir and the CBC were reporting last night that Coderre has been pushing 4 other Liberal MPs to step down in favour of new star female candidatesm, and we are hearing this morning that this is true, but that nothing's settled yet. They are:

• Saint-Laurent – Cartierville, QC - Former Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion's name is reportedly on the list, although last we had reported here, Dion had turned down an academic appointment and wanted to run again in this West Island of Montréal seat.
  
• Laval – Les Îles, QC - Also said to be targetted is five-term Liberal M.P. Raymonde Folco, whose riding association was carrying a negative $43K net worth at the end of 2007 and has yet to file a year-end return for 2008 this year, allowing her campaign to be outspent 98% of the limit to 52% by her former aide-turned-Conservative candidate Agop T. Evereklian in the last campaign. However, Folco is said to have told Ignatieff she would like to stay on, and he has apparently agreed.
• Pierrefonds – Dollard, QC - Bernard Patry is the other West Island Liberal M.P. named, and has served 6 terms since he defeated former Conservative M.P. Gerry Weiner in 1993 with 65% of the vote, increasing to 72.9% in 2000, but declining to 46.9% by 2008.
• LaSalle – Émard, QC - The other name on the list is NOT a "long-time" M.P., but rather Lise Zarac, a former municipal councillor who was only just elected last fall to replace former Liberal Leader and Prime Minister Paul Martin, after his retirement. She held the riding with a 40.6% vote share in 2008, down from Martin's high of 65.8% in 2000, but consistent with the 45.5% he obtained in 1988 when he defeated former Conservative M.P. Claude Lanthier to enter the Commons.

In other nomination news:

• Sackville – Eastern Shore, NS - Five-term NDP M.P. Peter Stoffer was re-nominated by acclamation this past Saturday, a commenter writes to tell us. None of his opponents appear to have been selected as yet.
  
• Mégantic – L'Érable, QC - 2008 candidate and notary Pierre Turcotte defeated former riding president Kaven Mathieu for the Bloc Québécois nomination in this eastern townships riding last Tuesday, September 15, we learn from the Courrier Frontenac. The riding is currently represented by two-term Conservative M.P. Christian Paradis, and recently lost its Liberal candidate, Marc Giroux, over a policy disagreement regarding asbestos.
• Drummond, QC - Also recently renominated is first-time Bloc Québécois M.P. Roger Pomerleau who kept the seat in his party's column on the retirement of since-deceased former Bloc M.P. Pauline Picard. He was acclaimed on Sunday morning, September 20, according to l'Express de Drummondville. None of his opponents appear to have been selected yet either.
• Joliette, QC - 2008 NDP candidate Francine Raynault was renominated by acclamation in this north shore riding on Thursday, September 17, a reader writes to advise. She joins 2008 Liberal candidate Suzie St-Onge, and both will face four-term Bloc Québécois House Leader Pierre Paquette.
• Montcalm, QC - In a neighbouring riding last night, the NDP nominated first-time candidate Manon Perreault, a municipal councillor and activist for the disabled. The seat is currently held by four-term Bloc Québécois M.P. Roger Gaudet.
  
• Repentigny, QC - And in another neighbouring riding last night, four-time candidate and FTQ union rep Réjean Bellemare received his party's nod once again for the forthcoming campaign. The riding is currently held by Nicolas Dufour, who kept the seat for the Bloc Québécois in 2008 on the retirement of former M.P. Father Raymond Gravel. Dufour, who at age 22 is currently the youngest Member in the House of Commons, was the second Bloc M.P. to be renominated, back on April 19, with leader Gilles Duceppe in attendance.
  
• Kingston and the Islands, ON - We earlier wrote about one of the candidates in the contested NDP nomination in this eastern Ontario riding, Daniel Beals. He is being joined in the race by a home healthcare professional, Pauline Kuhlmann, a reader passed along, who ran provincially for her party in Leeds-Grenville in 2007. The two will square off at a meeting tonight, and the victor will face Green Party candidate Eric Benoit Walton, Conservative candidate Brian Abrams, and Commons Speaker and long-time Liberal M.P. Peter Milliken.
  
• Peterborough, ON - The reader also writes to say that prospective NDP candidate in this riding, Dave Nickle, is a secondary school teacher and former District 14 OSSTF President in town, and has run three times provincially. He is expected to be acclaimed at a nomination meeting convened for next Monday, September 28, and will then face two-term Conservative M.P. Dean Del Mastro and 2008 Liberal candidate Betsy McGregor.
  
• Essex, ON - Several readers got in touch to let us know about the nomination meeting now scheduled here for Saturday, October 3. Two-time candidate Taras Natyshak does not appear to have stopped campaigning since the last election, and is expected to be acclaimed. He will then face off once again against two-term Conservative M.P. Jeff Watson, and first-time Liberal candidate Nelson Santos, the mayor of Amherstburg Kingsville [sorry about that Mayor Santos!], who was nominated in mid-August. The rural riding which surrounds Windsor has been held by all 3 major parties in the last 20 years, from the NDP's Steven Langdon (1984-1993) to the Liberal's Susan Whelan (1993-2004), who lost to Watson and then tried twice to return to Ottawa, and it has been a 3-way race or close to it in each of the last 3 campaigns. Natyshak obtained 26.6% of the vote in 2008, but was outgunned by both Watson and Whelan in campaign spending the last two elections, managing just 38% and 52% of the limit in 2006 and 2008 respectively, compared with 97% and 96% each for the other two parties.
  
• Windsor West, ON - Another reader wrote to remind us that four-time NDP M.P. Brian Masse is expected to be acclaimed at a nomination meeting this coming Friday. Masse's Conservative opponent Lisa Lumley has been in place since she was acclaimed on June 7, and area Liberals have yet to pick a candidate, although Edy Haddad is very interested in running, as we reported earlier. The Conservatives moved into second place in both the urban Windsor ridings in 2008.
  
• Sarnia – Lambton, ON - The hotly contested Liberal nomination race in this riding has been going for most of the summer, and finally concluded with 2008 candidate Tim Fugard coming out ahead of Anne Marie Gillis last night, reported @RadioSarniaNews on Twitter this morning. Fugard, who placed third last time behind two-term Conservative M.P. Patricia Davidson and the NDP's Andy Bruziewicz, will face Davidson once again, along with recently-nominated Crissy Sinopole for the NDP.
  
• Elmwood – Transcona, MB - Thanks to a reader for passing along this Facebook group for marketing and sponsorship consultant Ilona Niemczyk, who is going after the Liberal nomination in this east-end Winnipeg riding, currently held by first-time NDP M.P. Jim Maloway. No nomination meeting date appears to have been set as yet. Maloway was renominated at the end of June, the first candidate to be officially selected for the NDP.
  
• Palliser, SK - Another reader wrote to remind us that Noah Evanchuk was acclaimed as the NDP candidate here this past Saturday, September 19. A lawyer, Evanchuk was one of the key organizers of Ryan Meili's spirited leadership challenge in the recent provincial leadership contest against Dwayne Lingenfelter (who just won his own seat in last night's by-election in Regina Douglas Park). Evanchuk will now face off against first-time Conservative M.P. and former mayor of Moose Jaw, Ray Boughen, and a Liberal to be named later. As an interesting trivia item, this riding's profile page has been the top hit here for click-throughs from the associated Election Prediction Page for the same riding over the past month.
• Vancouver Island North, BC - Area Liberals nominated lawyer Michael Holland last night, who will now face five-term Conservative M.P. John Duncan, and apparently also former one-term NDP M.P. Catherine Bell who recently stepped down from her position as riding president in order to file her nomination papers for a meeting expected sometime in October, according to the Comox Valley Record. Thanks to a reader for getting in touch with this information so quickly.
  

As you can see, reader reports and news from Google Alerts are now becoming the mainstay of the nomination news updates here. If you want to see your party's candidates in the news more often, why not get in touch. And then follow all the fun @punditsguide on Twitter.

I did want to take a moment to recognize some analysis of the situation with Liberal women candidates, and whether their recruitment was more likely to occur in "winnable" than "non-winnable" seats, which was conducted by the Liberal Scarf is this blogpost. He concludes after looking at roughly 73 ridings in each category that the proportions were roughly even across the two groups. Check it out.

Labels: 41st General Election Nominations, Bloc Québécois, Liberals, NDP