Mr. Garneau is expected to vie for the Vaudreuil-Soulanges seat in western Quebec, currently held by Bloc Québécois MP Meili Faille.
Transport Minister Jean Lapierre, Prime Minister Paul Martin's Quebec lieutenant, refused to confirm or deny Mr. Garneau's candidacy yesterday
"We're not there yet," he told reporters. "When there's an announcement to make, we'll do it at the appropriate time."
But other Liberal sources said that the discussions on the former astronaut's candidacy have been completed, and he is expected to run, even if it is not yet official.
The former Liberal MP in the riding, Nick Discepola, has been planning a comeback since he was defeated in an upset in the 2004 election.
But the Liberal riding association in Vaudreuil-Soulanges has attempted to schedule a nomination meeting in recent weeks that would have likely chosen Mr. Discepola, and was rebuffed by the party's Quebec election committee, according to party members there.
One of Paul Martin's very important number one priorities, one that he has made absolutely clear, is remedying the democratic deficit in Parliament. There is currently a democratic deficit of Liberal seats to survive next week's non-confidence vote. So the local riding associations in Quebec will have to keep running their deficits until Parliament has a healthy surplus of Liberals again.
Source: Globe and Mail
No comments:
Post a Comment