Candidates proclaimed in Beauséjour for Oct. 14 federal election

Canadians will once again head to the polls for a federal election on Tuesday, Oct. 14.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper made the announcement last week, putting an end to rampant speculation as to when it would be called. The ruling Conservative government had been teetering on the brink of a non-confidence vote since its minority victory in the January 23, 2006 election, but had managed to survive longer than any other true minority government in Canadian history.
Four candidates have been proclaimed in the riding of BeausÉjour including Liberal incumbent Dominic LeBlanc, Omer Leger for the Conservative Party of Canada, NDP Neil Gardner and Green Party candidate Michael Milligan.
LeBlanc said Tuesday that the Liberal party has been prepared for an election for the past several months.
"I was advocating for us to defeat the Conservatives in the House of Commons in the spring and even last fall. I've thought that we should have had an election for some time," he said, adding the party has had many preparations completed for some time now. "So when it was called we just had to roll out the signs."
LeBlanc, who has represented BeausÉjour for the past eight years, said in the next couple weeks his focus will be on meeting as many of his constituents as possible.
"We try to put together a five-week schedule where we can attend as many events, and see as many people as we can," he said.
Conservative candidate and veteran politician Omer Leger said Tuesday that he's fully aware of the challenge facing him in the upcoming election.
"This constituency has been Liberal since 1930, except for the three years (1997-2000) when Angela Vautour for the NDP was MP,"?he said.
"It's a challenge to be a candidate with this type of history, but I'm optimistic this time because I think people want a change; people want to have a more aggressive MP for BeausÉjour. If I happen to win the election I will not be busy finishing my opponent's projects, because there's nothing on the table that I see," he said.
Leger said he too will be focusing on meeting as many people as possible over the next five weeks and in particular plans to be talking with municipal councils and other groups and organizations in the constituency during that time.
Both the NDP and Green Party candidates were unavailable for comment by press time.