Your Guide is having a little trouble buying in to all the election speculation right now, but better safe than sorry, so let's get to the day's nomination developments:

• Parry Sound – Muskoka, ON - A reader writes to advise that lawyer Shawn Pudsey won the contested Liberal nomination this past Sunday, August 30 over Doug Cantwell, while a third candidate Leigh Beal had to pull out late last week for personal reasons. Pudsey will now face two-term Conservative M.P. Tony Clement. Thanks to a commenter for supplying the clipping.
  
• Ottawa West – Nepean, ON - Former Liberal M.P. David Pratt was renominated by acclamation this past Monday, August 31, setting up what Le Droit is calling the "battle of the ministers" between Pratt and two-term Conservative M.P. John Baird.
  
• Lotbinière – Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC - Liberals acclaimed Lévis municipal councillor Nicole Larouche here on Tuesday, September 1, reports iciLevis.com. And, considering a run for the Bloc here is a former Liberal M.P., Gaston Gourde, reports local radio station CFIN. (h/t Liberal Scarf) The riding is currently represented by Jacques Gourde of the Conservatives, although it's unclear whether the two are closely related.
• Kitchener – Conestoga, ON - Thanks to a commenter for digging out this Kitchener-Waterloo Record clipping about the Liberal nomination this past Tuesday, September 1 of restaurant owner Teresa Huegle. She will now face two-term Conservative M.P. Harold Albrecht.
  
• Winnipeg South, MB - another reader was kind enough to get in touch and confirm that Liberal Terry Duguid was acclaimed tonight as expected in Winnipeg South. He will now face two-term Conservative M.P. Rod Bruinooge.
  

In other nomination news:

• Hochelaga, QC - A bit of a controversy may be brewing in this Bloc Québécois riding in the east end of Montréal, which is about to become vacant on Wednesday, September 16 when long-time Bloc M.P. Réal Ménard steps down to run in the upcoming Québec municipal elections. It seems that Ménard's long-time aide, Benoit Dumuy, has been selling memberships for quite some time in anticipation of an open nomination process, but now Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe is rumoured to be appointing former Parti Québécois MNA Daniel Paillé as the candidate instead, and in fact Joël-Denis Bellavance of La Presse reports that Duceppe seems set to do just that. Paillé's name is familiar in Ottawa for more than just being Jacques Parizeau's one-time Industry Minister: he was appointed by then-Conservative Public Works Minister Michel Fortier right after the 2006 election to examine federal government procurement contracts for opinion research, over some howls from several quarters. According to Le Journal de Rosemont - La Petite-Patrie, the Bloc riding association has been asking for a nomination meeting date since the end of June, and Bellavance reports that as many as 4 potential Bloc candidates have been preparing runs for the nomination. The NDP renominated its 2008 candidate, union leader Jean-Claude Rocheleau, at the beginning of August, while no other parties' candidate have been identified as yet.
• Lévis – Bellechasse, QC - CFIN is reporting that St-Michel resident Francis Laforesterie is planning a run for the Liberals in this riding, against two-term Conservative M.P. Steve Blaney. No word when the nomination meeting will be held, however. (again h/t Liberal Scarf)
• Ottawa Centre, ON - A reader got in touch to say that the contested Liberal nomination in this riding is now scheduled for September 9. Running are Scott Bradley and Janet Yale. The riding is currently represented by two-term NDP M.P. Paul Dewar, who is expected to be renominated by acclamation on Monday, September 28. Green Party 2008 candidate Jen Hunter was renominated in the spring, and there is at least one declared candidate for the Conservative nomination, Bruce Kyereh-Addo.
• London West, ON - The contested Liberal nomination in this riding has also been given a meeting date of Thursday, September 10. Running are teacher Matt Brown and former Liberal party president Doug Ferguson. The riding is currently held by first-term Conservative M.P. Ed Holder.
  
• London – Fanshawe, ON - This coming Thursday, September 3 the NDP will meet to renominate two-term M.P. Irene Mathyssen by acclamation, reports LondonTopic.ca (h/t Liberal Scarf) The Conservatives recently nominated candidate Jim Chahbar, and 2008 Liberal candidate Jacquie Gauthier is also said to be interested in running again.
  
• Elgin – Middlesex – London, ON - The same meeting will also renominated autoworker Ryan Dolby in this riding, currently represented by three-term Conservative M.P. Joe Preston. (h/t Liberal Scarf) 2008 Liberal candidate Suzanne Van Bommel recently announced that she would not be running for her party's nomination again.
• West Vancouver – Sunshine Coast – Sea to Sky Country, BC - Thanks to a reader for advising us that the Liberal nomination meeting in this west coast riding that will soon host the Winter Olympics has now been scheduled for Sunday, September 13. Running will be former Conservative party activist Daniel Veniez, the former chair of the crown corporation running Prince Rupert's bulk commodity terminal who was fired by the government several months ago. The riding is currently represented by first-term Conservative M.P. John Weston.
  

Le Devoir reported on the Liberals' "plan for Québec" this morning, claiming that they have identified star candidates for three Montréal ridings that will be announced on the eve of an election: Ahuntsic, Jeanne-Le Ber, and of course Outremont. According to Alec Castonguary's story, the Liberals will have a Québec-specific platform and are targetting 8 ridings (1 held by the NDP, 1 held by the Conservatives, and 6 held by the Bloc) as follows:

• Haute-Gaspésie – La Mitis – Matane – Matapédia, QC - in the Gaspé, a Bloc-Liberal contest last time, won by 1.9%; 2008 Liberal candidate Nancy Charest is running again against a new Bloc Québécois candidate, Jean-François Fortin, since incumbent Bloc M.P. Jean-Yves Roy is retiring.
  
• Brome – Missisquoi, QC - in the Eastern Townships, a Bloc-Liberal contest last time, won by 2.4%; 2008 Liberal candidate and former M.P. Denis Paradis is running again against two-time Bloc Québécois M.P. Christian Ouellet.
  
• Compton – Stanstead, QC - also in the Eastern Townships, a Bloc-Liberal contest again in 2006 (after being a Bloc-Conservative contest in 2008), won by 19.3% of the vote against a split opposition; 2008 Liberal candidate William Hogg is running again, against three-term Bloc M.P. France Bonsant.
  
• Ahuntsic, QC - in north Montréal, a long-time close Bloc-Liberal contest, won last time by 0.9%; we reported some time ago that former Liberal M.P. and 2008 candidate Eleni Bakopanos was fundraising for the next election, which if true would make for the 4th consecutive contest between Bakopanos and Bloc Québécois M.P. Maria Mourani. However, it was later rumoured that Bakopanos might have some unspecified other competition for the nomination, which might be the star candidate being discussed here.
  
• Jeanne-Le Ber, QC - in south Montréal and Verdun, a Bloc-Liberal contest and mathematical 4-way race, won by 2.7% of the vote last time. The nomination in this riding was cancelled while identified candidate Marc Bruneau suddenly dropped out of the race amid rumours, and it now appears the riding is slated for a "star" candidate as mentioned above. The riding is currently held by two-term Bloc Québécois Thierry St-Cyr. 2008 NDP candidate Daniel Breton is also said to be interested in running again.
  
• Outremont, QC - in central Montréal, an NDP-Liberal contest, won last time by 6.5%; again apparently the target of a last minute "star" candidate announcement. They want the seat back badly from former Liberal MNA and current NDP M.P. Thomas Mulcair.
  
• Gatineau, QC - in western Québec, just across from Ottawa, a Bloc-NDP contest and mathematical 3-way and 4-way race, won by 3.0% and in which the Liberals placed third; a 3-way Liberal nomination contest in on tap for this Thursday night (tonight, by the time most of you read this), and the winner will face two-term Bloc Québécois Richard Nadeau and former Liberal M.P. turned NDP candidate Françoise Boivin.
  
• Pontiac, QC - also in western Québec, a Conservative-Liberal contest, won by 8.5% of the vote last time. Another 3-way nomination contest is set for next Thursday Sunday to pick the Liberal candidate, who will then face-off against two-term Conservative M.P. Lawrence Cannon.
  

The 4 next-tier targets are reported to be as follows (but unfortunately, I've run out of time to write about them tonight):

• Abitibi – Témiscamingue
• Saint-Bruno – Saint-Hubert
• Saint-Lambert
• Shefford

If you have nomination news to pass along, please drop us a line, and include a link to a news story or other source if you have it. Then follow along on Twitter.

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