From left: Greg Fergus, Georges Lafontaine, Denis Coderre, Cindy Duncan McMillan, and Marcel Proulx celebrate McMillan's win at the liberal convention. Photo by Mark Burgess of the Low Down

No one seemed as surprised as Cindy Duncan McMillan when the federal Liberal party’s candidate for Pontiac was announced Sept. 13. She stood alongside fellow would-be nominees Greg Fergus and Georges Lafontaine at the Gracefield recreation centre’s stage after a long vote count that had the crowd on the edge of its seat.

“You did it for me last time, you’ve done it again. From the bottom of my heart - thank you Poltimore,” she said, addressing her key constituency after the result was announced. Surprised might not be exactly fitting, for Duncan McMillan always exudes tremendous confidence even while  some would have pegged her as the underdog. She was elated though, and emotional.

The riding had over 1,000 registered voters, according to riding association president Phil Ozga, and  approximately 200 came to Gracefield to vote. There were also satellite polls in Shawville and L’Ange-Gardien.

Ozga wouldn’t reveal the vote breakdown but the sense was that it was very close. The party’s Quebec lieutenant, Denis Coderre, was forced to stretch his speech beyond 30 minutes while the results were tallied and, one presumes, re-tallied.

Coderre lashed out at the Conservatives for “lying their teeth out” about the deficit, for Harper’s centralized power and for what he called their dirty advertising in his marathon address.

All three candidates made speeches before the voting got underway. Duncan McMillan, a beef farmer from Farrellton, spoke of her knowledge of “the farm file” and how she’d helped develop Michael Ignatieff’s rural policy. She listed the forestry industry and the Gatineau Valley Retirement Village in Kaz as priorities neglected by the Conservatives.

Greg Fergus, the former national director of the party, stressed his ability to appeal to voters across the riding, saying he could “match and beat (Conservative MP) Lawrence Cannon in any debate.”

Lafontaine, a writer and former political attache to Liberal MNAs, spoke of the erosion of Canadian values under the current government.

The buzz around the rec centre once the voting was underway was that it would be tight. With three candidates, Liberals used preferential balloting where each voter selects his or her first, second and third choice for the nomination. There is no second ballot.

Party members talked about Duncan McMillan’s strong grass roots base versus Fergus’ magnetic personality and ability to engage the room, versus Lafontaine’s experience in the riding and connections within the party’s Quebec establishment. In the end it was Duncan McMillan’s campaign that earned the nomination and the right to take on the sitting Foreign Affairs Minister known as the Prime Minister’s right hand man what will likely be a fall rematch.

Both Fergus and Lafontaine graciously pledged their support in the common cause in brief speeches after the result was announced.

Duncan McMillan was eager to start campaigning again, describing being invited into people’s “clean houses” and offered warm drinks “or something stronger” as a fun job.

“Mr. Cannon, be careful,” she said.

Tagged as: Cindy Duncan McMillan, Farrellton farmer, federal election, liberal convention