Getting back to the nomination news of the past few days, there are a few significant developments worth marking, first off in one of the vacant ridings:

• Cumberland – Colchester – Musquodoboit Valley, NS - The NDP nominated first-time candidate Mark Austin by acclamation this past Wednesday in the seat vacated by Independent M.P. Bill Casey last spring. Austin, a farmer, small business owner, and sustainable planning coordinator, told the Amhert Daily News that he had been approached to run by two other parties before settling on the NDP. This rounds out the slate of candidates for the second prospective by-election seat, with a call due on or before Saturday, October 31. Realistically however, since the New Westminster – Coquitlam, BC by-election needs to be called by a week from Tuesday, we can expect that this one will be called at the same time, with the two vacant Québec seats possible additions to the roster as well.

Next, although l'affaire Coderre has been extensively covered by the mainstream media and bloggers alike, I thought it was worth summarizing the main implications from a nomination perspective:

• I'm given to understand that there will now be open nominations for the Liberal candidates in both Outremont, QC and Jeanne-Le Ber, QC. Nathalie Le Prohon, after having taken a few days to consider things, has decided that she will be a candidate for the nomination in the latter seat, while former Outremont Liberal M.P. Martin Cauchon will be facing a member of the riding executive, doctor and founding president of Medecins d'Ailleurs Comlan Amouzou in his old seat. No nomination date has been settled on as yet, that I've seen.
  
• The status of some of Coderre's other picks is not clear to me, for example Noushig Eloyan in Ahuntsic, QC, where it was reported this week that former M.P. Eleni Bakopanos had indeed been selling memberships in order to run for the nomination again, until Mr. Coderre informed her that he had selected another candidate for the seat.
  
• Mr. Coderre is apparently not going to be asked to leave the Liberal caucus, after reports of his contrition on Facebook and apparently non-controversial appearance on Tout le monde en parle surfaced. As an incumbent M.P., one supposes he is also entitled to be renominated without opposition in his own riding of Bourassa, QC. So, while Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff has said there will be consequences for Mr. Coderre, they seem destined to take the form of lost opportunities in Question Period, overseas trips, committee assignments, critic areas, and other perks ... and probably Friday House duty day from now till doomsday, a permanent seat on the most boring committee in Parliament, and relegation to the draftiest, smallest office on the Hill; rather than the loss of his nomination or caucus membership.
  
• None of the sitting M.P.s Coderre was reportedly pushing to retire to make way for new candidates appears to have succumbed. Indeed Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff attended a fundraiser for one of them, Laval – Les Îles, QC M.P. Raymond Folco, in Laval earlier this week. Ignatieff has also recently visited Trois-Rivières, QC in the past week, where Coderre's earlier attempts to recruit a former ADQ MNA to run federally had run into strong resistance from the local Liberal riding association.

Meanwhile, the Conservatives had a candidate resign themselves earlier in the week, which I noted in the List of Candidates who have stepped down, but had not documented in a blogpost as yet. Stephen Taylor was the first to report via Twitter that Gordon Landon, earlier acclaimed as Conservative candidate in Markham – Unionville, ON stepped down at the request of party headquarters, based on his unwillingness to comply with their guidelines for candidates speaking with local media, after an interview he gave on the allocation of infrastructure spending received widespread and unwanted attention.

A few other candidates were nominated during the week, and a whole slew of them will be nominated tomorrow, including in two contested Liberal nominations down east: South Shore – St. Margaret's, NS and Miramichi, NB. I'll be entering everything on Saturday evening, when I get back from the Beau's All-Natural Brewing Company's 1st Annual Oktoberfest in Vankleek Hill (George Wendt, better known as "Norm" from the Cheers TV show, will be the special guest ... really!).

I apologize for the light blogging this week, and the somewhat lacklustre post tonight, however it's the first one I've had to compile without my silent co-author ... our darling little kitty-cat, who used to curl up next to my laptop late at night while I worked on the database, got very sick, very suddenly, and alas had to move on to greener pastures earlier today. Never one for getting all soppy and kitschy about pets, her loss has actually hit me pretty hard.

Folks in Ottawa were also marking the passing of another comrade-in-arms and/or worthy opponent this week: long-time Liberal Whip's Assistant Richard Wackid, who received a diagnosis of ALS just last year, at far too young an age. Wackid's loss, along with that of legendary House Leader's assistant and procedural counsellor Jerry Yanover, has been a bit of a double whammy for their colleagues. We send our sympathies to his family, friends and compatriots.

Labels: 41st General Election Nominations, Candidates Stepping Down, Conservatives, Cumberland – Colchester – Musquodoboit Valley, Greens, Liberals, NDP

LAST UPDATED: Friday January 8, 2010.

One of the most popular features of the last election was the list of candidates who stepped down. Since we've just had our first one for the 41st General Election Cycle, it's time to resurrect that feature.

Prty	Riding		Candidate	Reason for resigning	Replaced by
Grn	AB	Calgary West	Randy Weeks
Cons	ON	Markham – Unionville	Gordon Landon	comments regarding allocation of infrastructure spending
Lib	QC	Mégantic – L'Érable	Marc Giroux	policy disagreement
Grn	QC	Richmond – Arthabaska	François Fillion	switched ridings (to Mégantic – L'Érable)	Tony Bombardier
Grn	ON	Halton	Amy Collard	family reasons	Matt Gilgan
Grn	ON	Renfrew – Nipissing – Pembroke	Benjamin Hoffman	work commitments
Grn	AB	Edmonton – Spruce Grove	Alison Beil	family reasons
Lib	ON	Niagara West – Glanbrook	Ivan Luksic	took new job
Lib	ON	Newmarket – Aurora	Margaret Black	running again municipally
Cons	ON	Mississauga – Streetsville	Sue McFadden	running again municipally

Not officially nominated, but withdrawing themselves from running was: Nathalie Le Prohon (Lib - Jeanne Le Ber - Dec 20, 2009).

I learned my lesson this time, though, and will be maintaining the list in my own database as well, along with the date, and the URL for the information source. As time permits, I'll try and add that to the site.

If you information to update this list with, please get in touch.

Labels: 41st General Election, Candidates Stepping Down

LAST UPDATED: Saturday September 13, 2008.

Here is my first attempt at assembling a list of candidates who have stepped down for one reason or another, by party, in regional and then roughly chronological order.

As always, it's the network of Pundits' Guide readers that really improves on this kind of data, so if you can help fill in any blanks, or know of other names, don't hesitate to get in touch. [UPDATE: Several folks did just this, and their corrections are shown below. thanks!]

First a summary ...

• Liberals: 27 candidates resigned or stepped down, 16 of whom have been replaced or have nomination meetings scheduled [UPDATE: In fact, 3 of them have re-enlisted themselves]. Add this to 9 incumbents already retired, and 14 who have now announced they will not seek re-election.
• NDP: 26 candidates resigned or stepped down, 15 of whom have been replaced (in 5 cases by themselves after running provincially) or have nomination meetings scheduled. Add this to 3 incumbents who have announced they will not seek re-election.
• Conservatives: 16 candidates resigned or stepped down, 8 of whom have been replaced. Add this to 10 incumbents who have announced they will not seek re-election.
• Greens: 10 candidates resigned or stepped down, 7 of whom have been replaced or have nomination meetings scheduled.
• Bloc Québécois: No record of any 1 candidate(s) resigned or stepped down. However, 1 incumbent is deceased, 3 have already retired, and 4 others have announced she will not seek re-election.

Prty	Riding		Candidate	Reason for resigning	Replaced by
Lib	NB	Tobique – Mactaquac	Stewart C. Paul	health concerns
Lib	NS	Halifax	Martin MacKinnon	to take another job
Lib	PE	Egmont	Robert J. (Bobby) Morrissey	to pursue other opportunities	Keith Milligan
Lib	QC	Brossard – La Prairie	Paul Leduc	quit after the Outremont by-election
Lib	QC	Joliette	Pierre-Luc Bellerose	quit after the Outremont by-election
Lib	QC	Alfred-Pellan	Hasmig Bellili	[unknown]
Lib	QC	Portneuf – Jacques-Cartier	Gilles Landry	quit after the Outremont by-election
Lib	QC	Lévis – Bellechasse	Simon Turmel	to accept a new position at the Assemblée Nationale
Lib	QC	Rimouski-Neigette – Témiscouata – Les Basques	Pierre Béland	to resume his scientific career	Pierre Béland !!
Lib	QC	Québec	Simon Bédard	asked to resign by Stéphane Dion over comments on Oka crisis
Lib	ON	Mississauga – Streetsville	Wajid Khan	told his advisor role to PM inconsistent with Liberal caucus membership, so crossed the floor	Bonnie Crombie
Lib	ON	Toronto – Danforth	Deborah Coyne	could no longer carry on as candidate (later ran for and withdrew from nom in DVW)	Andrew Lang
Lib	ON	Dufferin – Caledon	Skid Crease	expected election did not materialize	Rebecca K. Finch
Lib	ON	Simcoe North	John D. Waite	expected election did not materialize	Steve Clarke
Lib	ON	Trinity – Spadina	Tony Ianno	allow another candidate to run	Christine Innes
Lib	MB	Selkirk – Interlake	Robert Maytwayashing	expected election did not materialize
Lib	MB	Charleswood – St. James – Assiniboia	Rick Ross	to make way for another candidate	Bob Friesen
Lib	SK	Palliser	Garret J. (Garry) Oledzki	for personal and professional reasons	Calvin Johnson
Lib	AB	Calgary – Nose Hill	Nancy Love (Love Crawford)	[unknown]	Marti Anoush Newman
Lib	AB	Edmonton – Sherwood Park	Adam Campbell	[unknown]	Rick Szostak
Lib	AB	Calgary Northeast	Dobie Yiu-Chung To	[unknown]	Sanam Kang
Lib	BC	West Vancouver – Sunshine Coast – Sea to Sky Country	Blair Wilson	problem with green-light committee	Ian Sutherland
Lib	BC	Pitt Meadows – Maple Ridge – Mission	Rani Bellwood	to keep up with her own new business	Parissa Aujla
Lib	BC	Okanagan – Shuswap	Buffy Baumbrough	to help with the expansion of her family's business, and pursue her interest in municipal politics	Nom Mtg Aug 23 Janna Francis
Lib	BC	Pitt Meadows – Maple Ridge – Mission	Parissa Aujla	[unknown]
Lib	BC	Skeena – Bulkley Valley	Corinna Morhart	[unknown]	Corinna Morhart !!
Lib	BC	Langley	Jake Gray	[unknown]	Jake Gray !!
NDP	PE	Cardigan	Sara Roach Lewis	[unknown]
NDP	QC	Québec	Micheline Anne Montreuil	disagreement about role of candidate
NDP	QC	Rivière-des-Mille-Îles	Francis Chartrand	[unknown]	Normand Beaudet
NDP	QC	Argenteuil – Papineau – Mirabel	Diane Lafrance	to take a new job
NDP	QC	Lotbinière – Chutes-de-la-Chaudière	Raymond Côte	[unknown]
NDP	ON	Lanark – Frontenac – Lennox and Addington	Arif Jinha	disagreement about role of candidate	Sandra Willard
NDP	ON	Scarborough – Rouge River	Huma Munroe	[unknown]
NDP	ON	London West	Natalie Hebert	[unknown]
NDP	ON	Perth – Wellington	Donna Hansen	to take care of some health concerns
NDP	ON	Ottawa – Vanier	Ric Dagenais	to run in the recent provincial election	Trevor Haché
NDP	ON	Simcoe – Grey	Katy Austin	to run in the recent provincial election	renominated federally
NDP	ON	Don Valley West	Brad Slipiec	moved away	David Sparrow
NDP	ON	Brant	Ian Deans	health reasons
NDP	ON	Sudbury	Gerry McIntaggart	family reasons have intervened	Nom Mtg Sept 9
NDP	ON	Kingston and the Islands	Renee Stephen	personal and professional reasons
NDP	ON	St. Paul's	Nancy Patchell	just started new job	Nom Mtg this week
NDP	SK	Regina – Lumsden – Lake Centre	Moe Kovatch	family health reasons
NDP	AB	Yellowhead	Ken Kuzminski	to run in the recent provincial election	renominated federally
NDP	AB	Calgary Centre-North	John Chan	to run in the recent provincial election	renominated federally
NDP	AB	Calgary Southwest	Holly Heffernan	to run in the recent provincial election	renominated federally
NDP	AB	Calgary West	Teale Phelps Bondaroff	to run in the recent provincial election	renominated federally
NDP	AB	Edmonton – Mill Woods – Beaumont	Neal Gray	for personal reasons	Nom Mtg Aug 25 Michael Butler Contested Nom Mtg delayed
NDP	AB	Red Deer	Kelly Bickford	for personal reasons	Nom Mtg this week
NDP	BC	Kelowna – Lake Country	Kevin Hagglund	[unknown]	Tish Lakes
NDP	BC	South Surrey – White Rock – Cloverdale	Moh Chelali	[unknown]	Peter Prontzos
NDP	BC	Vancouver Centre	Randall Garrison	could not be a full-time candidate anymore for work reasons	Michael Byers
Grn	ON	Ottawa Centre	David Chernushenko	to pursue other professional opportunities	Jennifer Hunter
Grn	ON	Beaches – East York	David McMillan	[unknown]	Zoran Markovski
Grn	ON	Lanark – Frontenac – Lennox and Addington	Chris Walker	expected election did not materialize
Grn	ON	Northumberland – Quinte West	John Graham	needed by his business	Nom Mtg Sept 24 or sooner
Grn	ON	Davenport	Brigitte Davidson	[unknown]	Wayne Scott
Grn	ON	Haldimand – Norfolk	Frank Nightingale	bad timing, family stuff, new business
Grn	AB	Wild Rose	Sean Maw	[unknown]	Lisa Fox
Grn	BC	West Vancouver – Sunshine Coast – Sea to Sky Country	Silvaine Zimmerman	to run for provincial Green Party leadership	James B. Stephenson
Grn	BC	West Vancouver – Sunshine Coast – Sea to Sky Country	James B. Stephenson	to make way for recently joined Green MP to run	Blair Wilson
Grn	BC	Burnaby – Douglas	Stephen (Grn)Harper	to take a job in the UK
BQ	QC	Louis-Hébert	Guy Richer	pursue a professional opportunity
Cons	NL	Random – Burin – St. George's	Cynthia Downey	left over Atlantic Accord	Herb Davis
Cons	NS	Cumberland – Colchester – Musquodoboit Valley	Bill Casey	left after budget vote on Atlantic Accord
Cons	NS	Halifax	Rosamond Luke	withdrew her name
Cons	NB	Miramichi	Bill Tozer	to pursue a business project in the area
Cons	QC	Honoré-Mercier	Angelo Marino	[unknown]	Rodrigue Alfaro
Cons	QC	Rimouski-Neigette – Témiscouata – Les Basques	Daniel Langlais	[unknown]
Cons	QC	Manicouagan	François Corriveau	personal and professional reasons
Cons	QC	Abitibi – Témiscamingue	Lise Kistabish	personal and professional reasons	Pierre Grandmaitre
Cons	QC	Argenteuil – Papineau – Mirabel	Suzanne Courville	[unknown]	Scott Pearce
Cons	ON	London – Fanshawe	Jordan Katz	[unknown]	Mary Lou Ambrogio
Cons	ON	Halton	Garth Turner	crossed the floor after having to leave Conservative caucus	Richard Malboeuf no-one yet nominated
Cons	ON	Toronto Centre	Mark A.A. Warner	dismissed by party headquarters	Don Meredith in the by-election
Cons	ON	Guelph	Brent Barr	dismissed by party headquarters	Gloria Kovach
Cons	ON	Ajax – Pickering	Steve Gilchrist	to pursue his business interests
Cons	ON	Windsor – Tecumseh	Kristine Robinson	personal reasons	Denise Ghanam
Cons	MB	Winnipeg Centre	Réné Dansereau	[unknown]	Kenny Daodu
Cons	SK	Palliser	Dave Batters	health reasons	Ray Boughen

A couple of notes:

• Jane Purves, often mentioned as a Conservative candidate who stepped down in Halifax, NS, in fact was never nominated to the best of my knowledge.
• Same goes for Conservative Joe Goudie in Labrador, so far as I can tell.
• New Democrat Randall Garrison's replacement was in fact selected just yesterday, when Michael Byers was formally nominated to represent the NDP in Vancouver Centre, B.C. against long-time Liberal M.P. Hedy Fry.

OK now, it's time for you all to help make this list complete, and correct any boo-boos!

[UPDATE: Welcome National Newswatch readers.]

Labels: 40th General Election Nominations, Candidates Stepping Down