BIBLE HILL - Bill Casey is not running in the next election, but Cumberland-Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley Liberal candidate Tracy Parsons feels he will still be a factor.
"There was no question Bill was going to run in the last election, but I still believe the Bill factor exists in this is still the riding Stephen Harper decided wasn't worthy of keeping its member of parliament," the former head of the Progressive Canadian Party said Wednesday while confirming her intentions to run for the Liberal nomination.
"Our voices weren't heard and that was a deliberate act on his part. That factor still exists and it will be a big plus for the Liberal candidate."
Parsons is the second Colchester County resident seeking the party nomination. Jim Burrows announced late last week his name will be on the ballot when Liberals get together later this summer to name a candidate to represent them in a byelection or federal election.
Last October, voters in the riding re-elected Casey by a wide margin. Casey, running as an Independent, garnered 69 per cent of the vote, with Parsons placing fourth behind Karen Olssen of the NDP and Joel Bernard of the Conservatives.
Casey retired from politics in May to accept a job as Nova Scotia's representative in Ottawa and the prime minister has until November to call a byelection, but with a Quebec riding requiring a byelection call in September, it's believed Harper could call both at the same time.
There's also a vacancy in British Columbia, where an NDP MP resigned to run provincially.
With some pundits expecting the Liberals to return to power in Ottawa after the next federal vote, Parsons feels the time is right to have a Liberal MP from this riding as well.
"It's definitely time to return a Liberal to Ottawa from this riding," she said.
"There's an excellent chance of the Liberals forming the next government, I see that in the polls across the country. It would be beneficial to this riding to have someone in government."
Parsons believes she built a foundation during the last vote and though she wasn't successful in securing the riding for the party last year, she believes she will be successful this time.
She sees agriculture and the situation faced by farmers across the riding as being the key issue. Parsons believes Ottawa has not paid much attention to the farming community in eastern Canada while she's also concerned the country's economic condition.
Parsons joined the federal Liberal Party in November 2007 along with a number of members of the Progressive Canadian Party executive. She ran for that party in the 2004 and 2006 elections.
dcole@amherstdaily.com
