Mona Fortier wins Ottawa-Vanier Liberal nomination

By Nathan Caddell

Mona Fortier beat out eight candidates for the right to represent the Liberal Party of Canada in Ottawa-Vanier after the death of former representative Mauril Bélanger last August.

Fortier was announced the winner at a raucous nomination vote at the Ottawa Conference and Events Centre on Sunday after a reported 2,669 registered party members cast their votes.

Supporters of each candidate lined the entrance to the centre, handing out pamphlets and cheering loudly for their contender from early morning until voting closed at 3 p.m.

Tony Stikeman, president of the Ottawa-Vanier Liberal riding association, said the day was “a bit of a circus, a good circus. Not only is it encouraging, it’s unprecedented.”

There were just over 900 registered Liberal party members in Ottawa-Vanier before the byelection was called, but that number ballooned to around 7,500 by Sunday.

Fortier is an Ottawa communications consultant and former riding association president who worked with Bélanger in all eight of his winning campaigns. She won with 1,006 votes.

Among the hopefuls were Khatera Akbari, a Senate administration staffer, and Nicolas Moyer, executive director of the Humanitarian Coalition, who came in second and third place, respectively.

The Conservative party will nominate a candidate on Feb. 16, while Emilie Taman has been acclaimed as the NDP candidate since late November.

A byelection needs to be called by the Liberal party by Feb. 19. The riding has voted Liberal every year since its creation in 1935.