Denise Giroux will be the NDP candidate for the Pontiac, official appointment expected Thursday

Denise Giroux will be the NDP candidate for the Pontiac, official appointment expected Thursday

Following yesterday’s announcement of an election coming up on September 20, the President of the Pontiac NDP riding association, Denise Giroux, released a statement condemning the decision. Giroux, who was also the party’s candidate in the 2019 election, is returning to the role and is expected to make her candidacy official this Thursday, once the association completes its nomination process.

In her statement on the election being called, Giroux attacked the Liberal’s record in the Pontiac riding.

“This incompetence and this lack of will to do what is fair and equitable for all citizens has serious impacts in the riding of Pontiac,” she wrote (translated).

She was also critical of the timing of the election call, with the COVID-19 pandemic still ongoing.

“For the NDP, the prospect of an election in the midst of a global pandemic does not delight us. The elections cost more than $ 500 million, money that would have been better spent elsewhere. The Trudeau government, however, has eloquently demonstrated its ineptitude. Electoral reform? A broken promise. Achieve greenhouse gas emissions targets? Canada is the only G7 country that has failed to meet its targets. Access to internet an hour’s drive from Canada’s capital remains slow, intermittent and sometimes unavailable. In 2015, Mr. Amos promised to fix this problem; it still hasn’t been done. On the important issue of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples; there are too many cases of unsafe water, and poor access to medical care,” she wrote (translated).

Back in 2019, Giroux finished in fourth place, with 10.5% of the vote. The Pontiac NDP riding association is finalizing their nomination process on Thursday and Giroux is expected to meet with CHIP 101.9 on Friday.