Grits, NDP suspect early election call

By MIKE YOUDS

Canadians could be heading to the polls again as early as next spring, so local Liberal and NDP riding associations are getting set just in case.

The Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo New Democrats will select a candidate Aug. 9, said former candidate Michael Crawford.

Crawford said he won’t be running in a fourth federal election now that lawyer Bill Sundhu has declared his intent to win the nomination.

“I can tell you, very clear, that I’m absolutely delighted he’s running,” Crawford said. “I’ve been encouraging him to run. I think he’s excellent.”

The buzz from the Hill suggests the election will be in a year’s time rather than in October 2015, the date fixed by the Elections Act, Crawford said. He wanted to see at least one strong candidate in the nomination race before bowing out this time around and that he’s happy to step aside.

“I’ve had three opportunities and we’ve taken the vote here from the low 20s to the 38 per cent while the Liberals and Greens have crashed.”

MP Cathy McLeod, on the other hand, has seen Tory voter support rise by roughly six per cent in each of the last two elections and held a 15-point lead in 2011, so New Democrats have their work cut out. So do the Liberals, riding president Tyler Carpentier acknowledged.

“People working on the campaign looked at the calendar and figured that was a likely date, so our whole goal is to be ready for springtime,” Carpentier said. A number of people have approached the association with thoughts of running but he said he couldn’t disclose any names.

The Liberals will host the first of what they expect will be a series of Team Justin barbecue events on June 21 at Prince Charles Park, but Trudeau won’t be attending. This will be a modest affair to reach out to the grass roots, Carpentier said. Trudeau last visited the city in July 2013.

Sundhu, who was a Liberal Party of Canada member in 2010-11 and served briefly on the Liberal riding executive, said he talked to Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau as well as NDP Leader Tom Mulcair before deciding which party to back. He notes the Liberals inability to gain traction in the riding and feels they don’t have “a realistic approach to grass-roots rule.” Although Trudeau has raised the profile of the Liberals, it’s too soon to predict the outcome of the next general election, Sundhu said.

“I think the situation is in flux; anything is possible between the three major parties.”

He said one of his ambitions is to broaden the traditional NDP base by reaching out to “progressive” voters opposed to the direction that the Harper Tories are taking the country.