As expected, former Ottawa mayor Bob Chiarelli was chosen as the provincial Liberal party candidate for Ottawa West-Nepean at a nomination meeting yesterday.
Chiarelli is stepping into the position that will be vacated by Jim Watson, who is stepping down to run for mayor, a position Chiarelli held from 1997 until 2006.
No date has been set for the byelection, since Watson will not officially resign from his position until this morning.
Chiarelli’s main competition for the seat will come from one of the two Conservative candidates.
Community activist Beth Graham, 55 and Mike Patton, 46, a former press secretary for Mayor Larry O’Brien, are both running for the Conservative nomination.
Mark MacKenzie, who owns and operates Appleseed Snowblowing, a company whose vehicles are fuelled by vegetable oil biodiesel, has been nominated to run for the Green party in the riding.
A candidate for the NDP will be selected at a nomination meeting early this month.
