The Conservative Party of Canada appointed its candidate in Prescott-Russell-Cumberland for the April 28 federal election, rather than continuing with an open nomination process where party members would vote for the candidate.
Pierre Lemieux, who served as MP for Glengarry-Prescott-Russell from 2006 to 2015, was seeking the 2025 nomination, along with Hawkesbury town Councillor Julie Séguin. A short time after the federal election was called on Sunday, March 23, Séguin informed The Review she had been designated as the candidate.
Lemieux and Séguin had been publicly pursuing the nomination for more than a year.
On Saturday, March 29, Séguin said she and her supporters had been running a 15-month campaign for the nomination.
“My team and myself were ready for a vote,” she said.
Instead, Séguin received a phone call on March 23 informing her she was the candidate.
“I got a call Sunday after 3,” she remarked.
Seguin said she does not know what happened with how the decision was made
In a social media post, Lemieux expressed his disappointment with the party’s chosen method for selecting a candidate.
“No reason was provided. There will be no nomination meeting or vote. The party has appointed a different candidate,” Lemieux wrote.
MP’s Marilyn Gladu and Michael Cooper had endorsed Lemieux for the 2025 nomination.
The former MP and retired Canadian Armed Forces Lieutenant Colonel was also the Conservative candidate in Glengarry-Prescott-Russell in 2019. In 2016, Lemieux ran for the leadership of the Conservative Party in a campaign that was won by Andrew Scheer.
Both the Conservative and Liberal parties have regulations which allow for candidates to be appointed, rather than selected by a vote of registered members. In Nepean, incumbent MP Chandra Arya was denied the Liberal nomination. Liberal Leader Mark Carney, who does not have a seat in Parliament, was instead appointed as the candidate. The Liberals and Conservatives have also appointed candidates in other districts across the country.
