Lack of nominations not uncommon: analyst

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This article was published 29/03/2011 (5533 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — Even as they prepared to topple the Conservative government last week, the opposition parties were far from having all their candidates nominated for the election they were about to unleash.

According to the database assembled by punditsguide.ca — an Ottawa-based website of voting statistics — as of late last week the Liberals had nominated a candidate in only 228 of the country’s 308 electoral districts, while the NDP had nominated in just 214. The Bloc Québécois, which runs candidates only in Quebec’s 75 ridings, had chosen 48.

The Conservatives had nominated 237 of their candidates.

According to James Bickerton, a political science professor at St. Francis Xavier University, the lack of a full slate of candidates is standard practice going into an election.

“This is quite normal — in fact, it is always the case that there are ridings that don’t yet have nominated candidates when an election is called,” Bickerton said in an email to Postmedia News.

The nomination process can be difficult, noted Alice Funke, the analyst who runs punditsguide.ca.

She pointed out that many candidates cannot be ready at the very beginning of a campaign for a variety of reasons — because, for instance, they need to take a leave of absence from work to get organized.

There are other reasons why a party may not have completed its nominations.

“Often parties don’t yet have a nominated candidate in ridings where they aren’t all that competitive or don’t expect to win, or where party organization is weak or just a shell,” Bickerton said.

Incumbents may drop out at the last minute — the Liberals experienced this on Monday when they lost incumbent Raymonde Folco in a Quebec riding — forcing the party to make a last-minute nomination.

Bickerton pointed to the example of Stockwell Day’s recent decision to not seek re-election for the Tories as another example.

There is also some strategy involved in announcing a candidate. Funke said a party might hold back a star candidate in order to unveil him or her at a more opportune time, when the news would make a splash.

The pace of nominations can also reveal broader party strategy.

In the run-up to the election, for instance, Funke said, the NDP suddenly ramped up its nominations, choosing about 60 new candidates.

It suggested to her the NDP was preparing for an election.

It is expected the four main national parties will run candidates in nearly every riding.

Elections Canada’s nomination deadline is April 11.

While each party posts its own list of candidates on its website, Funke compiles raw numbers through nomination forms submitted to Elections Canada. This means her figures are often more current than the official tallies individual parties present.

— Postmedia News