Duchesne’s name will be the only name on the ballot when New Democrats in Cumberland South get together Thursday, Feb. 9 to name their candidate for the next provincial election – widely expected for the spring.
Duchesne’s name will be the only name on the ballot when New Democrats in Cumberland South get together Thursday, Feb. 9 to name their candidate for the next provincial election – widely expected for the spring.
The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the All Saints Parish Hall in Springhill.
The deadline for nominations closed Jan. 26.
NDP leader Gary Burrill will be guest speaker.
“I like politics and I like the changes that have taken place with the NDP and our new leader,” said Duchesne, who is a former leader of the NDP on Prince Edward Island.
Duchesne, who is also the president of the riding association, wants to get going with the campaign as early as possible. In 2013, Duchesne was nominated late and he said it hindered his ability to effectively campaign.
In that election, he picked up 872 votes to finish third behind PC leader Jamie Baillie and Kenny John Jackson of the Liberals.
“The others were campaigning for quite some time before us and had a bit of an advantage,” Duchesne said. “We want to be out early.”
While the riding has been a PC stronghold since the late 1990s, Duchesne believes it can eventually go NDP with a lot of hard work. He said a lot of the conditions faced by people in the riding are like those in the rest of the province with a lot of people living at or below the poverty line.
“The odds of winning this time aren’t great but we’re building something and when the people meet Gary it could make a difference,” Duchesne said.
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