3-way race to represent Liberals in Fredericton-Oromocto election campaign
Premier throws ‘personal support’ behind musician David Myles while selection process remains unclear
Liberals in the Fredericton area have three candidates to choose from as federal political parties rush to fill the final holes in their slates now that a national election campaign is underway.
Premier Susan Holt is backing a personal friend to become the candidate over the spouse of one of her cabinet ministers.
Holt has endorsed well-known singer-songwriter David Myles rather than Tyler Randall, who is married to Fredericton North MLA Luke Randall, Holt's minister of economic development.
"It's personal support for David," Holt told CBC News. "We've known him since he was born. We have a longtime relationship, my family and his family."
Ryan Sullivan, an associate vice-president at St. Thomas University with deep Liberal roots, is the third candidate to carry the party banner in Fredericton-Oromocto.
But it's not clear whether party members in the riding will get to vote for who they want.
Liberal rules posted on the party website say at least 14 days' notice is required before a nominating meeting can be held — a timeline that would put the event in the third week of the five-week campaign.
The rules also allow the party leader, Mark Carney, to simply designate a candidate or suspend other rules, including timelines, in a case of "electoral urgency."
Sullivan said he is waiting to hear from party officials about what will happen.
"I just think with the extenuating circumstances — they're mapping that out right now. All I can do is control what I can control and move forward with what I can do," he said.
"Literally all I can say right now is I'm working hard to be the candidate and have the Liberal party in the position where we can win this election in Fredericton-Oromocto."
Randall said word on the process could come "at any moment now."
Riding president Noreen Bonnell did not respond to a request for information about the process.
Myles could not be reached for a comment on his candidacy but he confirmed it in a public Facebook post.
Randall submitted his nomination papers about a month ago, before the recent surge in support for the Liberals in public opinion polls.
"I'm here to work hard regardless of the odds, and I'm here to defy the odds and overcome them," he said.
Asked about Holt's support for Myles despite his spouse's role in her cabinet, Randall said, "I think that's a question mostly for her, honestly. I can't speak to where she's at."
Holt told CBC her endorsement doesn't involve throwing her party organization behind Myles.
"Luke [Randall] and I have spoken about it on an number of occasions. We understand that I have different relationships with all three of the candidates in different ways for different lengths of time," she said.
"It's really personal support as opposed to organizational support."
After she became Liberal leader in August 2022, Holt told reporters repeatedly that there was no link between her provincial party and the federal party.
She also pointedly did not meet with then-prime minister Justin Trudeau during that period, waiting until he asked for a meeting last November following her swearing-in as premier.
Sullivan said Holt's preference for Myles did not bother him.
"This is an opportunity for us to have good candidates considered at an important time, and we're one Liberal party who will rally around the person who will be representing Fredericton-Oromocto," he said.
Sullivan has been endorsed by former MP Matt DeCourcey.
He said he decided after Mark Carney won the federal Liberal leadership that "his approach and his vision really align with my own personal feeling of where we need to go as a country."
Randall said while he considers himself the best choice for the party, he'd be happy to see Myles or Sullivan as the candidate as well.
"I feel really comfortable with everyone who's put their names forward.… We have a huge array of life experiences."
The Liberal nomination drama is unfolding while Conservative candidate Brian Macdonald, who was nominated more than a year ago, is already putting up signs around the constituency.
Previous Liberal MP Jenica Atwin, originally elected as a Green MP in 2019, announced in January she wouldn't run again.
The NDP lists Nicki Lyons-Macfarlane as its candidate in Fredericton-Oromocto while the Greens have nominated Pamela Allen-LeBlanc.
The People's Party of Canada does not list a Fredericton candidate on its website. The Communist Party of Canada identifies June Patterson as its candidate.
Meanwhile, the Conservative Party of Canada announced Monday afternoon that it had chosen Mike Dawson, Miramichi West's Progressive Conservative MLA, as its candidate in Miramichi Grand-Lake.
The riding needed a new Conservative candidate after MP Jake Stewart announced he would not run again.
Dawson's federal candidacy requires him to resign as an MLA.
The Conservatives also shut down a competitive race for the nomination in Saint John-Kennebecasis by appointing candidate Melissa Young.
Three candidates in all were seeking that nomination, and a fourth dropped out last year alleging the party's national office favoured one of them.
The delay in holding a nominating convention led riding president Leslie Kierstead to resign.
"I have struggled with the process," one of the other candidates, Lisa Keenan, said in a Facebook post telling supporters the race had been short-circuited.
"By training and profession, I have an ingrained and inflexible sense of commitment to principles of transparency, accountability and openness."
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