Leading the non-Bloc nomination news in Québec in the last few days was the announcement by the Green Party of its new Québec Deputy Leader: not Stéphane Dion or Janine Krieber, per Wells' First Rule of Politics, but rather retired Radio-Canada environment reporter Jacques Rivard.

The only question I have is where Rivard will run, given that he's Montréal-based and the Green Party has already filled virtually every Montréal-area riding. I've just updated all the GPC nominations for Québec, and the only vacancies I see are: Saint-Léonard – Saint-Michel, Hochelaga (assuming Christine Lebel isn't hoping to run again), Alfred-Pellan in the Laval area, Saint-Lambert and Saint-Bruno – Saint-Hubert on the south-shore, or maybe Beauharnois – Salaberry if he doesn't mind going that far. Unfortunately none of Rivard's former colleagues in the media thought to ask, so we'll just have to wait for the answer from the party.

The Green party has now nominated candidates in 50/75 Québec ridings, more than even the Bloc Québécois, with only about a third of them return candidates from 2008 (18/50). Former deputy leader Claude William Genest does not seem to be running again so far, given that the three ridings in which he's previously run are all now filled by other Green nominees. There's also a candidate again in Stéphane Dion's west Island riding of Saint-Laurent – Cartierville.

Meanwhile, thanks to a forgetful Hill denizen and the ever-alert Steve Maher of the Halifax Chronicle-Herald, we know from Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff's schedule (PDF) that he was to meet Eastern Québec Liberal candidates and their organizers Wednesday night in Québec city. I count about 12 nominated candidates who would fit the bill, if you include everything from Manicouagan to Joliette on the north shore, and from Haute-Gaspésie – La Mitis – Matane – Matapédia to Brome – Missisquoi on the south shore (roughly 33 ridings all told).

Summer Liberal nomination news in Québec was all about Outremont, and extensively covered by all the traditional sources, but for those who missed the dénouement, Martin Cauchon's only remaining competition for the nomination, Liberal riding executive member and president of "Médecins d'ailleurs" Comlan Amouzou, withdrew from the nomination race in late October, according to Le Devoir. Resigning his post as riding vice-president at the same time, Amouzou charged that forces within the party had been urging him to pull out of the race; saying

«Je me pose de très sérieuses questions sur la place des communautés ethniques au sein du Parti libéral du Canada au Québec, dit-il. Ce parti est devenu une chasse gardée pour quelques privilégiés qui agissent en fonction de leurs intérêts et de leurs ambitions au détriment des aspirations des militants de la base. Je ne reconnais plus les véritables valeurs libérales.»

Meanwhile, the departure of Denis Coderre as Québec lieutenant has left a few more nominations up in the air (we reported on some others earlier here):

• Trois-Rivières, QC - Former radio host Robert Pilotte confirmed to Le Nouvelliste in late September that he was the candidate Denis Coderre had been holding the riding for. Readers will recall that Coderre ran afoul of local Liberals in the Trois-Rivières in his late August bid to court former ADQ House Leader Sébastien Proulx, deemed a bit on the conservative side by some members of the local riding. Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff had just visited riding activists there a few days before the September story on Pilotte appeared. In it, the regional president of the federal Liberal association in Québec argued strongly for an open nomination so that "the best candidate can win", noting that other names had also been circulating. Riding president Jean Boulet, meanwhile, was being a lot more circumspect about the nature and timing of the nomination meeting, and we learned why in early November: he had been considering a run himself, although he eventually ruled it out, as did another prospective candidate: Serge Lafrenière of Investors Group. This has left Patrice Mangin, director-general of the "Centre intégré des pâtes et papiers", as the only candidate in the race so far with no meeting date established in the foreseeable future. The riding is currently held by three-term Bloc Québécois M.P. Paule Brunelle.
• Beauport – Limoilou, QC - Another former radio host courted by Coderre ruled himself out of the running for the Liberals in mid-October, reported the Journal de Québec. Martin Pouliot said the fact that there would not be an election made his decision easier, but also cited the resignation of Mr. Coderre and the ensuing "collapse" of the federal Liberals in Québec. The riding is currently held by two-term Conservative M.P. Sylvie Boucher.
• Québec, QC - Also unknown, according to Le Soleil last month, is the current status, or even interest, of former provincial Liberal cabinet minister Jean Leclerc, who was reportedly interested in Coderre's approaches about running in this other Québec City riding earlier in the summer. The riding is currently held by long-time Bloc Québécois M.P. Christiane Gagnon who, although she is not yet nominated, told me at the Equal Voice reception on Tuesday night that she was indeed planning to run again, but keeps her nomination meeting to the last minute, since the Bloc campaign has often launched in her riding, which presumably makes for a quick and easy opening day event for them.
  
• Louis-Hébert, QC - However for every door that closes another potentially opens, since former M.P. Hélène Chalifour Scherrer, who had wanted to run but was being apparently being blocked in that ambition by Coderre, may now be willing to run, the same Le Soleil story suggested. I'm also told by a reader that the Conservatives have a candidate in this riding, Pierre Paul-Hus, who publishes a french-language military magazine. I've been trying to confirm his status as a candidate, so if you can help with details such as when he was nominated, and was it a contest, please do get in touch and pass it along so I can enter him into the database. The seat is now held by first-time Bloc Québécois M.P. Pascal-Pierre Paillé, whose family name may sound familiar to you, as he is the nephew of recently-elected Hochelaga Bloc M.P. Daniel Paillé.

As for the NDP, it has not approved too many ridings to hold nomination meetings in Québec as yet, although for some reason it has a pocket of three nominees in the Mauricie-Lanaudière ridings, including an elected municipal councillor, Manon Perrault in Montcalm, returning labour candidate Réjean Bellemare in Repentigny, and returning candidate Francine Raynault in Joliette.

Also renominated are party Québec section treasurer and pharmacist Hoang Mai in Brossard – La Prairie, QC (the 5th closest four-way race of the last election), and community activist Christelle Bogosta in Brome – Missisquoi, QC (the 5th closest two-way race in Quebec last time, and also mathematically very close to the criteria for three-way and four-way races).

Finally, both the NDP's by-election candidates, Jean-Claude Rocheleau in Hochelaga and François Lapointe in Montmagny – L'Islet – Kamouraska – Rivière-du-Loup, have told their local papers that they could run again in the next election.

We'll pick up next time in Ontario, which has seen a lot of new Conservative and NDP candidates since we last checked in.

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