With Mark Carney now the leader of the federal Liberal Party and Canada’s next Prime Minister and with a national election looming, local eyes have turned towards the status of a Liberal candidate for Peterborough.
Carney won the first ballot for the leadership on Sunday (March 9) in a landslide, receiving almost 86 per cent of the vote, compared to eight per cent for former deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland, 3.2 per cent for former house leader Karina Gould, and three percent for Frank Baylis.
An economist and former governor of both the Bank of Canada and Bank of England, the 59-year-old Carney has never been elected to political office and does not hold a seat in the House of Commons.
This has raised speculation that a federal election will be called sooner than later — possibly even before Parliament is scheduled to return on March 25.
First, however, Carney needs to be sworn in as prime minister by Governor General Mary Simon, and then he needs to appoint a cabinet.
With a federal election likely imminent, people are asking who the federal Liberals will run in the new Peterborough riding (formerly Peterborough-Kawartha) to take on Conservative incumbent Michelle Ferreri.
kawarthaNOW reached out to the Peterborough Federal Liberal Association, which provided the following statement:
“Our Peterborough Federal Liberal Association has seen a significant surge of interest in supporting a local Liberal candidate and volunteering for the next election campaign since the leadership process began. Now with the proven and steady leadership of Mark Carney, we are excited to help deliver change for our community and our country.”
“The Liberal Party of Canada is still in the process of reviewing and approving a local Liberal candidate, and they are the ones who determine the call of a nomination meeting. The local association looks forward to a nomination meeting being called shortly.”
As for the other two major parties, Heather Ray was chosen as the federal NDP candidate for Peterborough in January. The federal Green Party has also not yet selected a nominee for Peterborough.
