Liberals last of major parties to choose provincial candidate for Ottawa-Vanier byelection

The byelection for the provincial riding of Ottawa-Vanier is expected to be called within weeks if not days of the Liberal nomination candidate being selected on Saturday. 

While the riding is considered a Liberal stronghold, the Liberals are the last of the three major parties to choose a candidate for the race to replace former MPP and auditor general Madeleine Meilleur.

Choosing a Liberal candidate was likely delayed when Ottawa-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury — Meilleur's apparent successor — declined the offer to run provincially.

Three women are standing for the Liberal nomination:

• Lucille Collard, a staff lawyer for the Federal Court of Appeal and a school board trustee since 2010.
• Nathalie Des Rosiers, the dean of common law at the University of Ottawa, and formerly the general counsel at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. In 2013, she was named to the Order of Canada.
• Persévérance Mayer, co-founder of the Ligue des Africains du Canada. She declined to speak with Radio-Canada ahead of Saturday's nomination meeting.

Premier Kathleen Wynne, who's been in town for a couple days, is expected to be at nomination meeting being held Saturday at É​cole secondaire publique De La Salle.

Although the byelection doesn't have to be called until January, the government is expected to call it soon once the Liberals get their electoral ducks in a row.

The Progressive Conservatives announced a star candidate last month in former Ontario ombudsman Andre Marin, who is probably best-known for scathing reports about Hydro One overbilling customers and treating them "abominably." Indeed, he appears to be basing much of his campaign taking aim at the Liberals' electricity policies and prices.

Marin is also known for openly campaigning to extend his position as ombudsman, and for spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer money for him to commute to his Queen's Park job from his home in Ottawa.

The NDP selected its candidate Claude Bisson in the summer.

Retired from a 30-year career in the RCMP, Bisson lists a multitude of ways he's been involved in the community, from coaching girls hockey to helping stop the destruction of the forest along Bathgate Road.

Bisson has also been involved in NDP politics at a familial level, working on the campaign of his younger brother Gilles, the longtime NDP MPP for Timmins-James Bay.

The Green Party of Ontario doesn't have a date set yet for its nomination, but is expected to announce one within days.