Stephen Taylor

The other week, I wrote about the potential appointment process of a candidate in Ottawa West Nepean as Bob Chiarelli was eyeing the riding to the dismay of former defense minister David Pratt.

Today I received a tip from a couple of sources that describe discord among Liberal EDA board members in Ottawa West Nepean and their leader as the board is complaining that former Ottawa mayor Bob Chiarelli has asked Liberal leader Stephane Dion to forgo the nomination process and appoint him as the candidate in that riding to face-off against Conservative Environment Minister John Baird. This is obviously undemocratic as former Martin Defense Minister David Pratt is known to want the candidacy.

The story received quite a bit of attention and appeared on the popular online news aggregator run by Pierre Bourque and the story made the pages of the Ottawa Sun the next day. Perhaps it gave the riding executive some chance to reflect.

Pratt was ultimately appointed due to a rushed election call and this caused some upset for contestants in Ottawa West Nepean that were hoping for a nomination meeting. One of those would-be nomination contestants Nour El-Kadri is said to have sold some 800 memberships over the past few months and a nomination meeting could have been held for some time. Supporters of El-Kadri and another former-hopeful Adriano Guzzo are said to be devastated.

Perhaps this is why the Pratt campaign is having some difficulty getting off the ground in Ottawa West Nepean. The sign war has heated up with Conservatives, NDP and Greens hammering the stakes of their wooden signs into the ground. Little red has made an appearance at this time. Pratt’s team has finally found a campaign office tucked away in the back of a local mini-mall but this photo indicates that there may be despair in the ranks.

Be sure to click the image to enlarge the photo (thanks for the tip to David in the comments)

Yesterday, the election campaign began and Liberal leader Stephane Dion’s campaign launch was held in Ottawa at the Billings Estate, a city of Ottawa operated property in the middle of Ottawa.

Organizers were expecting about 1000 people (about 100 from each Ottawa area riding) but only turned out about 300 according to Kady.

The Ontario Landowners association turned up to protest the event and proceeded up Riverside to Cabott, the small residential street which is the only road to the venue. The Landowners where protesting Dion’s carbon tax in favour of more property rights.

Liberals formed a human wall at the gates of Billings Estate to block the Landowners from accessing the event, held on public land.