A review of a busy 10 days in the vacant riding of Chicoutimi--Le Fjord, vacant after a Liberal MP who won it by a handful of votes quit. No by-election called yet but, my oh my, this riding is attracting significant federal (Liberal) interest. 1/ in 2015
April 30: Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier (whose riding is a long way away in the Gaspé) shows up in the riding to hand out interest-free loans to 4 local businesses worth a combined $2.5 million. newswire.ca/news-releases/…
May 1: Liberal MP @DavidLametti - whose riding is a long way off in Montreal -- shows up in the riding to hand out interest-free loans to 5 local businesses worth a combined $655,925 newswire.ca/news-releases/…
May 2: MP @DavidLametti is still here and, on this day, hands out interest-free loans to 3 Chicoutimi-Le Fjord businesses worth a combined $863,558. newswire.ca/news-releases/…
May 4: Liberal @RHebertPLC , whose riding is next door, pops over with a cheque for $564,000 for Réseau Trans-Al, a network of Quebec aluminum manufacturing enterprises and suppliers. newswire.ca/news-releases/…
May 7: Lina Boivin wins the nomination to become the Liberal candidate in the upcoming Chicoutimi--Le Fjord by-election liberal.ca/liberals-nomin…
May 10: Prime Minister @JustinTrudeau visits the riding where he is expected to stand with QC Premier @phcouillard to announce more federal cash for this vacant riding. theglobeandmail.com/politics/artic…
FWIW: I have never seen this quantity of spending announcements lavished on one riding ever. And I have tracked roughly 25,000 spending announcements through three Parliaments. see: @ottawaspends
So congratulations to the Liberal MP who quit Chicoutim-Le Fjord, Denis Lemieux. Never has an MP been so effective at bringing home the pork!
