The 2008 election is going to feature a rematch of the Liberal and Conservative candidates from the 2006 election.

Incumbent Rick Dykstra is once again facing off against 4 term Liberal MP Walt Lastewka. This is going to be one of the top 10 races to be watching in the country, as this riding was decided by 246 votes last time (Or one vote per polling station).

Also running for the NDP is former Brock united church chaplain Geroge Addision and for the Greens is long time candidate Jim Fannon. Neither Addision or Fannon are expected to win. Interestingly, the local Green Party & NDP headquarters are next door to each other in downtown St. Catahrines.

The start of the campaign in St. Catahrines got off to a hot start with Conservative MP Rick Dykstra touting an announcement made days before the start of the campaign that the federal & provincial governments would be investing $140 into a new transmission line at GM in St. Catharines.

However, in what Dykstra & the Conservatives hoped would be a boost for them in St. Catharines turned against them when it was revealed in the local media that:

1. Federal funds for the project did not come from new investments by the Conservatives, but rather though investments that were made by the Liberals and delivered by Walt Lastewka back in 2004.
2. The provincial government announced support and funding for this deal months ago.

The timing of this announcement was nothing more that cheap political opportunism from Dykstra and the Conservatives. And out of the gate it has hurt them here.

We’re approaching three-quarters of a century since we voted in a Liberal MP.

The last Cowichan MP who was also a member of the sitting government was Don Taylor, the Progressive Conservative candidate in the 1979 election. Since British Columbia joined confederation in 1871, the Cowichan riding … has not elected a Liberal representative since 1940 with Alan Chambers. 

 

As far back as 1979, Nanaimo-Cowichan has swung, usually widely, between the NDP and the Tories.

For 14 years, the NDP owned the riding. But they were defeated in 1993 by Reform candidate Bob Ringma who also soundly defeated the Liberal.

The Tories won again in 1997, with Reformer Reed Elley, and in 2000 also with Elley, this time under the Canadian Alliance banner.

The pendulum swung back from the Tories in 2004, with NDP Jean Crowder winning handily. She repeated her win in 2006.

Reed Elley is running again for the Tories – his third contest also being his third time running under a different party moniker. Despite Elley’s popularity, early indications in the riding are that Crowder will duplicate or surpass her previous results and return to Parliament for a third term.

• 1988 – NDP
• 1993, 1997 – REF
• 2000 – CA
• 2004, 2006 – NDP

Day 6 of the campaign! Liberal and Bloc candidate are definitely ahead in this race here! Liberal candidate, Pierre Gfeller and Bloc Québécois candidate and actual MP for the riding Johanne Deschamps have posters all around the riding. Not any from the NDP, Conservative or green north of Mont-Tremblant. The Conservative Guy Joncas and the NDP David Dupras both are from Tremblant while Gfeller is from Nominingue and Deschamps from Mont-Laurier…

The Bloc is the only party yet to have there office open both in the north and the south of the riding while Gfeller is driving the Liberal mobile, a kind of “office on wheel” … for those who don’t know, Laurentides-Labelle is a 3 hours drive to cross from the south to the north…

More to come, stay tune!

NDP last to select candidate — this evening. Peter Milliken, speaker of the house, for the Liberals and Abrahms for the Conservatives have been selected to run. Tory signs widespread in city. Others yet to show.

More after this evening.

Welcome to the homepage of our coverage of the 2008 Canadian federal election. Let’s start blogging!