Nominations have been moving at a furious pace these past few weeks, with one scheduled this past Tuesday, 4 settled on Wednesday, and 6 decided last night. Here's a quick run-down on who's who:

• Portneuf – Jacques-Cartier, QC - Richard Côté ran for the Bloc Québécois in 2008 against two-time Independent M.P. André Arthur in this riding, and although he has been campaigning throughout the summer, was only just renominated by acclamation on Tuesday, September 8. Manon Cornellier disputed my number of 20 nominated Bloc MPs in her last blogpost of the summer at l'Actualité.com, saying there were in fact 21, but I believe he was the 21st. Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe has been targetting Arthur's record recently and saying that they will be targetting the seat heavily, having come within 1.5% of the vote with Côté last time.
  
• Thunder Bay – Superior North, ON - As expected, first-time NDP M.P. Bruce Hyer was renominated by acclamation on Wednesday, September 9 after a series of meetings across the riding, reports TBNewsWatch.com. He'll now face Conservative candidate Michael Auld and Liberal Yves Fricot, both of whom won contested nominations over the summer, and a Green candidate to be named later.
  
• Nickel Belt, ON - Also in northern Ontario, the NDP renominated its two Sudbury-area M.P.s on Thursday, with @PaulDewar in attendance. Acclaimed in this riding was three-time candidate and first-time M.P. Claude Gravelle, whose opponents have not yet been determined.
  
• Sudbury, ON - And acclaimed next door was first-time NDP M.P. Glenn Thibeault, whose surprise upset victory over long-time Liberal M.P. Diane Marleau in 2008 was enough to bring the national Liberal caucus to the riding last week in an effort to reclaim the seat, with Papineau Liberal M.P. telling NorthernLife.ca that northerners had made a "well-meaning but ultimately rebellious choice", and a Liberal aide dispatched to follow Thibeault around at the previous weeks' events with a Blackberry, taking notes. The Liberal nomination was settled a few days before the Liberal caucus meeting, although victor Carol Hartman's win over 3 other candidates has not been without some controversy (again check the comments on the Sudbury Star story as well).
  
• Saskatoon – Rosetown – Biggar, SK - Further west, Saskatoon area New Democrats renominated two-time candidate and former National Farmers' Union president Nettie Wiebe on Wednesday, September 9, for one more try in this riding that's been a perenially close Conservative-NDP contest. She will now face first-time Conservative M.P. Kelly Block, who defeated her by just 262 votes last time (1.0% of the vote). on the retirement of three-term Conservative M.P. Carol Skelton. Thanks to a reader for writing to let us know.
  
• Saskatoon – Humboldt, SK - The same reader was good enough to get in touch once again last night to report on the outcome of the contested NDP nomination next door, at which community activist Denise Kouri defeated University of Saskatchewan graduate Scott Stelmaschuk for the chance to represent their party against three-time Conservative M.P. Brad Trost.
  
• Ottawa Centre, ON - Meanwhile, the first of three Ottawa-area Liberal meetings occurred on Wednesday, September 9, with pharmaceutical executive Scott Bradley scoring what some in his party considered a David vs. Goliath victory over telecommunications executive Janet Yale for the right to challenge two-term NDP M.P. Paul Dewar in the seat containing Parliament Hill itself. Macleans.ca blogger Aaron Wherry has dubbed the race a "nice-off" following coverage in the Ottawa Citizen which quoted Bradley as saying that Dewar did not "have the monopoly on nice". A reader wrote to report that some 841 (probably very nice) people voted at the meeting. Some nice New Democrats will gather on Monday, September 28 to nominate their candidate, mostly likely Dewar, although nominations remain open until 7 days before the meeting. A nice Green candidate was picked in the spring when 2008 candidate Jen Hunter received her party's nod once again, but we'll have to wait and see which of the reported 3 Conservative nomination candidates, including recent CUSA presidential candidate Bruce Kyereh-Addo, is nice enough to win their nomination at a date yet to be announced.
  
• Nepean – Carleton, ON - The same evening in the west end, Liberals met to acclaim first-time candidate Ryan Keon, the son of reknowned Ottawa Heart Institute surgeon and Conservative Senator, Dr. Wilfred Wilbert Keon. Keon Junior will now face three-term Conservative M.P. Pierre Poilievre. [UPDATE: I apologize for that quite unforgiveable mistake; should have double-checked first, and thanks to the commenter for pointing this out.]
  
• Ottawa – Orléans, ON - The following evening, lawyer David Bertschi won the three-way contested Liberal nomination in this east end riding, over businesswoman Judith Cane and Ottawa city councillor Rainer Bloess. Bertschi was the last candidate to announce in this covetted riding which has seen one of the longest nomination races in the area, and will now be facing two-term Conservative M.P. Royal Galipeau. (h/t the Liberal Scarf blog)
  
• Northumberland – Quinte West, ON - A bit further west, halfway between Ottawa and Toronto on Thursday night, three Liberals vied for the right to represent their party against two-term Conservative M.P. Rick Norlock, with past Chamber of Commerce president Kim Rudd the ultimate winner. She will also be facing Green candidate Stan Grizzle, and a New Democrat to be named later.
  
• London West, ON - And much further west of Toronto, former Liberal president Doug Ferguson won the contested Liberal nomination over Matt Brown the same evening with about 500 ballots cast, reports the London Free Press this morning, and he will now try and regain the seat for his party from first-time Conservative M.P. Ed Holder.

With those nominations, the Liberals have virtually a full slate of non-incumbents in Eastern Ontario and Western Québec, with the exception of Pontiac, QC which will be settled this Sunday, and Renfrew – Nipissing – Pembroke, ON which will be settled the Sunday after that; leaving only Carleton – Mississippi Mills, ON without a candidate or scheduled meeting.

Not every part of the country is so well-covered, however, so before Parliament returns I plan to do a review of which regions of the country have seen the most nomination action, and how the parties' nominations unfolded over the summer.

In any event, that's all I have time for this morning, although there is more news to report on the weekend, and the names above still need to be entered into the database. NDP Leader Jack Layton is also set to introduce a new candidate in Kamloops, BC this morning, someone was kind enough to write and let us know.

If you have nomination news to pass along, I always appreciate hearing from readers of whatever party and whatever part of the country.

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