Provencher Liberals bet on Hayward

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This article was published 14/07/2014 (3573 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There was no Justin Trudeau at this nomination meeting. There were enough seats available this time, too.

But there was a major similarity between the Provencher Liberals nomination meeting held Monday night versus last fall’s star-studded affair in Lorette: the optimism that this party can make serious inroads in a federal riding with Conservative leanings.

On Monday, more than 50 supporters were on hand at the Howden Communtiy Centre to acclaim Terry Hayward as the party’s candidate in the next federal election.

This will be Hayward’s third consecutive run at carrying the party banner in Provencher. After his self-described “last-minute run” in 2011 when the Liberals only garnered seven per cent of the vote, his party’s fortunes ballooned in the 2013 by-election with Trudeau as party leader. Hayward surged to receive 30 per cent of the vote and land in second place behind Conservative candidate Ted Falk.

“We’re letting people know that there is a Liberal voice in Provencher,” said Hayward. “It wasn’t being heard [in Provencher], people weren’t listening.”

The next federal election is scheduled for 2015.

More from the Provencher Liberals’ candidate nomination meeting, including Hayward’s thoughts on the new MP’s performance, can be found in the July 17 edition of The Carillon.