New federal Liberal candidate elected in LFK

Oct 08, 2014

Two Liberal gatherings took place on October 5 in the new federal riding of Lanark Frontenac Kingston to decide which of the two Phils, Phil Somers or Philippe Archambault, would become the new federal Liberal candidate for the riding.

Former House leader, Peter Milliken, chaired both meetings, the first at Sydenham's Grace Centre and the second at the Perth Civitan Hall, where each of the two candidates gave their final speeches leading up the vote. At 5:30pm after the total of 222 ballots had been counted, both candidates were called outside of main hall at the Civitan hall in Perth and minutes later both re-entered, one with both arms raised above his head, celebrating his victory.

Philippe Archambault was invited to the podium first to make his victory speech and after first thanking his wife Melanie, his team, supporters and his fellow candidate Phil Somers, he reiterated much from his earlier speeches in the day. Archambault emphasized the need in moving forward to work together to make progress in a number of areas, including increasing employment opportunities, creating more housing and health care initiatives, increasing support for elders living at home, protection of the environment, and creating more opportunities for youth and young adults. He ended by stressing the need for members of the party to come together to create a single united front.

“Scott Reid will not be easy to get out in 2015 and we will need to use the newest technology and to reach out to younger voters. I think it is very feasible that we can win this riding. We have a great leader in Justin (Trudeau). We will build a great team and we will work hard together and I promise that I will do everything I can to beat Scott Reid in the next election,” Archambault said, to much applause.

Phil Somers spoke next and thanked his family, his team and supporters. He congratulated Archambault for conducting such a “strong and positive campaign”. Somers geared his campaign to what he described as the issues that matter most to people in this riding, namely restoring democracy in Ottawa and said he enjoyed his campaign experience. He encouraged all of his volunteers and supporters to “get behind Archambault in order to win the riding in the 2015 election”. He spoke of the importance of signing up new party members as soon as possible and said that he is “so passionate about getting Stephen Harper out of Ottawa that he will continue to work hard to win this riding for the Liberals.”

Following the announcement of his win, Archambault told me he felt that it was a tight race and that the vote could have gone either way. “I definitely know that I came from behind since I entered the race in February whereas Phil Somers had a two-year head start on me. Still, that being said, I had a good feeling from the start and knew that I had support and know that I worked hard for this.” Archambault said he feels confident about winning the riding in the upcoming 2015 federal election. “This is just the beginning. If we work hard and talk to people and put out the Liberal message I think that we will have a good chance to beat Scott Reid, who has been the MP is this riding for the last 14 years.”

As far as celebrating his win, Archambault said that he would heading home, would talk with his wife and would be getting up early to make lunches for his young children. Basically he said he “would be getting back into the family routine and working full time”.