David Leskowski will win the Conservative party’s nomination for the new Thunder Bay-Rainy River riding by acclamation after Christine Hogarth, treasurer of the Ontario Progressive Conservative party, withdrew from the race.
“Just a few days ago, she [Hogarth] advised our nomination committee that she would be stepping aside,” noted riding association president Richard Neumann.
“Subsequently, we will be acclaiming David Leskowski as our candidate.”
Hogarth cited a lack of time to campaign as one of her reasons for withdrawing.
“She was involved in one of the [Conservative] leadership campaigns and had a commitment there,” Neumann said. “As a result, she felt she didn’t have enough time to meet as many people she wanted to meet.”
As a result, party members won’t have to cast ballots to choose their candidate, but the two nomination meetings will go ahead as planned.
“The meeting is still a go at the Emo Legion tonight [Friday],” Neumann noted. “We’re switching to a campaign kick-off style event more than anything else.”
Leskowski will be on hand for the meeting, which gets underway at 7 p.m., to speak with party members from the district.
The second meeting is planned for Thunder Bay on Saturday.
This will not be Leskowski’s first run for a seat in the House of Commons. He ran for the Alliance party in the 2000 federal election in the former Thunder Bay-Atikokan riding, where he took 29 percent of the vote to finish second behind Liberal Stan Dromisky.
Leskowski also was co-chair of the constitution committee with the new Conservative party’s interim council, which was responsible for running the party until a leader could be elected.
Stephen Harper won that leadership over Belinda Stronach and Tony Clement this past Saturday.
While Neumann expressed disappointment there would not be a contested nomination in Thunder Bay-Rainy River, he said everyone in the party is feeling confident about the next election.
“The optimism is absolutely infections in our ranks. It’s been a long time since Conservatives have been this optimistic going into an election,” he remarked.
While Neumann did not wish to comment on recent national polls, he did say “people are willing to look at their options today and examine them more closely.”
While Prime Minister Paul Martin has given no indication as to when he will call an election, the local Conservatives already have begun work on the upcoming campaign.
“We’re going to run a very positive campaign. We’re going to focus on our strengths and what we can do for people,” Neumann said.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
