AMHERST – Two choices will be on the ballot when Cumberland North Progressive Conservatives gather next Tuesday to select their candidate to carry the party’s colours in the next provincial election.
Judi Giroux and Robert Bird are both vying for the opportunity to run for the party against incumbent New Democrat MLA Brian Skabar.
“The fact that we have two great candidates coming forward speaks to the strength of the PC Party in Cumberland County,” party president Janet Fryday Dorey said.
“Darrell Dexter and the NDP have let Cumberland North residents down. People in Cumberland North are tired of paying the highest taxes and highest electricity prices in all of Canada so they are looking to Jamie Baillie and the PC Party for leadership.”
The party president said both Giroux and Bird would be formidable candidates in the next election that is widely expected for sometime next year, but could occur as early as the end of this year.
Just over 390 party members are eligible to vote at the meeting that begins at 7 p.m. at Amherst Regional High School.
Skabar became the riding’s first ever NDP MLA in June 2009 when he took advantage of a split Conservative vote and rode the party’s provincial momentum to a win. During the election, former Conservative MLA and cabinet minister Ernest Fage, who left caucus and was later expelled for a hit and run accident in Halifax, ran an as Independent. Conservative candidate Keith Hunter finished third behind Skabar and Fage.
The Liberals, represented last time by Brent Noiles, have yet to name a candidate.
In Cumberland South, Baillie, who won a byelection to replace longtime MLA and cabinet minster Murray Scott, indicated he plans to run in the riding for the Conservatives. Kenny John Jackson, who Baillie defeated in the byelection, is reoffering for the Liberals. It’s unknown who will run for the NDP.
dcole@amherstdaily.com
