Residents of the federal electoral riding of Halifax West are reporting that they have been polled about a possible contest between sitting MP Megan Leslie and Halifax mayor Peter Kelly.
Thing is, Leslie doesn’t represent Halifax West, so such a race is all but impossible. Leslie is the rep for the Halifax riding, which consists of a crescent from the peninsula, through Spryfield and down to Sambro. Halifax West runs from a line close to Kelly’s home in Bedford, stretching through Clayton Park and down to Prospect.
Kelly says he is “often” asked to run for federal office—by “both the Conservatives and the Liberals, and provincially, for PC leadership”—but he has no idea who is behind the latest polling. He seems as perplexed as anyone that the poll would pit him against Leslie in Halifax West, and while cagey, Kelly implies that he’s committed to serving out his term as mayor, precluding any run for higher office before 2012.
This article appears in Jun 10-16, 2010.
Dammit, I was hoping for “Megan for mayor.”
No thanks, HRM Council is already far too lefty/granola-ish, thanks.
At least she’s not Peter…
If you think Kelly is bad you could have David Miller if he moved from Toronto.
Ms Leslie will probably be an MP for as long as she breathes or at least until she has enough time in to be guaranteed a nice pension.
Megan Leslie is a true voice for Haligonians. I would vote for her in a heartbeat. She seems to be one of the few good politicians out there. She’s very involved in the community, and was an activist before a politician.
A voice in the forest that nobody hears, since she is a member of the NDP who can do nothing for her constituents. When will the voters of Halifax learn that continually electing NDP members to Parliament is costing the city millions?
I was going to say city council is way to conservative for my likes. Peter has been in office for 14 years now? Longer if you count Bedford Mayoral-ship. Not too much has changed around here. We’ve been stagnant, and that’s really a problem. Look at Moncton, they’re doing exciting things all the time to boost their reputation. I mean, if Peter Kelly can make Halifax exciting again, then perhaps ask if he’d run for the Conservative/Reform/Alliance Party.
Oh yeah, Megan Leslie is absolutely amazing. She does everything, she passes bills in the house for the betterment of everyone here, and across the country.
Vegi-guy: please list one bill Megan Leslie has gotten passed in the House of Commons.
both are losers,Kelly’s lacklustre and embarassing tenure as mayor must end so Halifax can
move into the future,not wallow in it’s past….and Ms.Leslie’s yawn inspiring work as a third party’s rep will never get my vote,we need someone in cabinet….both need to go away and give the job to those that can inspire,have vision and give confidence to others
The line “he seems as preplexed as anyone” just abour sums up our Mayor – time to go, he gives slothlike a new meaning.
As an oldster I really think it’s time this city elected a young and dynamic person, someone with vision and the balls to tell the naysayers and heritage wallies to sod off.
Megan Leslie is who and what?
God, what a shitty choice. I’d consider voting Natural Law before I’d vote for either one of these two.
I’ll send these two clowns a message by staying home on election day and dressing up like a clown.
To all you people with nothing good to say about Megan Leslie, you shouldn’t be commenting on politics. Even Conservatives have respect for Megan; she has been voted by the House of Commons as the best rookie MP in the House and she’s been recognised as one of the 29 best politicians in the Americas. She has been the spearhead of the in-the-works universal pharmacare bill which, when passed, will guarantee affordable prescription drugs to all Canadians. She has also launched the suicide-prevention bill which has been applauded by all parties. On top of all this, Megan has done more than any of you clowns could ever dream of doing for this community. She has set up a gallery in her office where local artisans and craftspeople can display and venue their work, open for all to go see. She hosts job workshops, community discussions, and she’s promoted locally-grown food with her regular Community Garden Fair. Before she was elected she created the Tenants’ Rights Project, designed to save people from unfair evictions and landlord neglect/abuse. She has helped hundreds of Haligonians get the money they deserve via the Disability Tax Credit and much, much, more.
To that ignoramus who demanded somebody “name one bill she has passed” I ask him to name one bill that the majority of MPs have passed. Opposition members only have so many days a year they’re permitted to introduce legislation, and those days are decided by the government. They’re called “Opposition Days”. When these days come, the opposition parties meet with their caucus to decide which bills to put forward for debate. Canada only has 22 Opposition Days a year. There are 37 sitting members in the NDP and 161 members in Opposition between the three parties that make it up. Megan has only been an MP for 2 1/2 years. To ask a question like “HOW MANY BILLS HAS MEGAN LESLIE PASSED?” is a clear demonstration of a lack of understanding of how the system works.
Also, the NDP has passed more legislation as Opposition than any other party in Canadian history. Healthcare? That was a product of the NDP. So before you start trashing the NDP as a no-good do-nothing party, educate yourself. You’ll wind up regretting the ignorance falling from your mouth and in the end you’ll wind up thanking yourself.
For the amount of time she’s been there, she’s done one hell of a job. I can’t wait to see what she’ll do next.
And who are you? her boyfriend?