While Marie-France Lalonde has yet to find out her fate in the upcoming federal election, the race to find her replacement at Queen's Park has already begun.
Last week, Cumberland Ward Coun. Stephen Blais announced his intention to seek the provincial Liberal nomination in Orléans Ward whenever a byelection is held to fill the seat left vacant when Lalonde won the federal Liberal nomination last month.
The timing of the by-election will be up to the Conservative government which has six months to do so. That means the Ford government must hold a by-election on or before March 23.
According to the Ontario Municipal Act, Blais is not required to relinquish his city council seat until and unless he wins the provincial election. That means he can carry out his city council duties while running an by-election campaign.
In a statement announcing his candidacy, Blais laid out his reasons for running.
"As councillor for Cumberland Ward, I have represented one of the fastest growing suburban communities in Ottawa,” states Blais. "We've worked hard to balance the needs of a growing community of young families while maintaining a fiscal approach that ensures costs change predictably.”
"We have accomplished so much together at City Hall, but Orléans needs a strong representative at Queen's Park,'' added Blais. "If I am fortunate to earn the trust of the voters, my track record demonstrates that I will work to ensure we get our fair share of investments to further help build our community.”
While Blais is the first person to declare his candidacy for the provincial Liberal nomination, it is unlikely he will be the last.
That said, he has already received the endorsement of several key people including Mayor Jim Watson, former Glengarry-Prescott-Russell MP Don Boudria, former Orléans city councillor Bob Monette and current Orléans city councillor Matt Luloff.
"We need Stephen in our corner at Queen's Park to make progress on the issues that matter most to our community such as reducing commute times, attracting jobs and making life easier for families,” says Luloff. "Stephen
knows Orléans and we need him as our partner at the
provincial level - we deserve nothing less.”
Blais was a long time supporter of the Liberal Party before entering politics in 2006 when he beat then incumbent Des Curley for a seat on the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board.
Three years later he surprised many pundits when he beat another incumbent, Rob Jellett, in the 2010 municipal election.
Despite garnering just 35 per cent of the vote in the rural portion of Cumberland Ward 19, Blais made up for it by winning the majority of the votes in the suburban portion of the ward which had grown by leaps and bounds in the years previous to the 2010 election. He was then re-elected by a plurality in 2014 (78%) and 2018 (89%).
Among his many accomplishments as councillor, Blais facilitated an $8 million expansion of the Millennium Sports Park including an artificial turf field; he played a leading role in getting the east end included in Phase 2 of LRT; and he pushed for the construction of the François Dupuis Recreation Centre in Avalon.
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