With about five weeks of campaigning left, Scott Bradley and Janet Yale are set to contest the Ottawa Centre Federal Liberal nomination for the right to run against current MP Paul Dewar whenever the next election is called.
Janet Yale is starting her first run for public office
Bradley ran for the nomination in the last election, but lost to Penny Collenette, who said last week she would not run again for health reasons.
Bradley said he was surprised to hear Collenette was not going to run, which quickly changed his plans. “I had no intention of running if Penny had been the candidate again,” he said. “She’d earned the right to be there and was hopeful of giving it another go.”
Bradley’s opponent will be Janet Yale, an executive with Telus who is running her first nomination campaign. She caused a stir when it appeared she might contest David Pratt’s nomination in Ottawa West-Nepean, nearly forcing Pratt home from Iraq where he is working with the Iraqi equivalent to the House of Commons for the summer.
“Ottawa Centre was the obvious choice,” said Yale, who lives in the riding. “I’m trying to make my community stronger.”
Yale points to her years of public service for organizations like the United Way and the Leadership Table of Homelessness as key reasons she is qualified for the job.
“I have a proven track record of getting things done,” she said. “That track record in community and public service I think distinguishes me.”
Bradley points to keeping young professionals in Ottawa Centre, improving the transferring process for new Canadians’ foreign credentials and degrees and connecting with Ottawa Centre’s gay and lesbian community as major issues.
Yale said affordable housing, transit and the environment would be her biggest projects.
Despite his strong showing in the last nomination race (where he garnered 41 per cent of the vote), Bradley shied away from being tagged as the favourite.
“I don’t think Janet considers herself the underdog,” he said.
This race may highlight a split in the Liberal Party.
“My opponent is the establishment candidate and I represent the average voter,” said Bradley. “The number one issue is not who has the best CV.”
Yale lists Senator Mac Harb, former minister Sheila Copps and long-time former Ottawa Centre MPP Richard Patten among her supporters.
Bradley said it is time for a change in the way Ottawa Centre Liberals contest federal elections.
“We’ve taken the Ottawa Centre voter for granted,” he said. “We haven’t given the average voter a reason to get excited about the Liberal Party.”
Yale said many voters in the riding hold progressive views, and that it is the Liberal candidate’s job to convince voters those views are most effective as part of the governing party.
“They would have a voice in Parliament,” she said.
In an election, Bradley says his message to Ottawa Centre voters would be as follows:
“Come back to the Liberal Party. It’s where you’ve been, it’s where you’re welcome.”
Meanwhile Yale said she would continue to push her community service.
“I have a track record and commitment to the community that is longstanding as well as a commitment to representing the voters of Ottawa Centre in a progressive Liberal government.”
While the date of the nomination meeting has not been set, it is expected to be in early September. Bradley said the final deadline for new party members to register and be eligible to vote in the race is August 24.
The winner of the nomination battle will face incumbent NDP Paul Dewar, repeat Green Party candidate Jen Hunter and a yet-to-be named Conservative candidate.