Sarah Pledge Dickson, LJI Journalist

In what was a close vote, Brian Nolan of Chelsea, Que. has been elected to be the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) candidate for the Pontiac-Kitigan Zibi riding in the next federal election.
Party members in the riding gathered at the Shawville arena on Saturday morning to cast their vote for one of four candidates vying for the position.

A total of 206 ballots were cast in the riding which has more than 800 party members eligible to vote. Voters were asked to rank the candidates on the ballot. After the initial count of the members’ first choices, no candidate had received more than half the votes to win the nomination, so the vote went to second and then third choices on the ballot. Nolan won with 114 votes in the third round of counting.

The ballot box with all the paperwork will now stay at the CPC office in the Pontiac for five days, until end of day Wednesday, in case one of the candidates appeals the decision.

Nolan was happy to receive the unofficial results Saturday afternoon.

“I think it’s a great thing for the Pontiac to have a new person. We had four great candidates and I’m lucky to be the one,” Nolan said, noting he plans to ask the other three candidates to join his team once his campaign kicks off in January.

“We have a big riding and I want to be a voice for everybody. I’m approachable and I like talking to people. I want to meet people.”

Nolan said that he joined the race a bit late and didn’t even start with a list of Conservative Party members. He focused his efforts on the Sheenboro to Luskville area. When asked how we would unite a riding where the vote went to the third ballot, he promised that he would travel throughout the rest of the riding to connect with other voters in other communities.

He said that it feels great to have the support of the Pontiac behind him.

“I met some wonderful people during the last two weeks here,” Nolan said. “It feels like the people really like me and that’s good.”