This bit of news went entirely under the radar, what with the focus on the budget vote.  Rani Bellwood was the Liberal nominee for British Columbia riding of Pitt Meadows--Maple Ridge--Mission.  She won the nomination last summer, making this one of those ready-to-go ridings.

Not so ready now.  Rani Bellwood has dropped out:

What started out as a three-way campaign is back to a two-way battle between the Conservatives and NDP.

Local resident Rani Bellwood won’t be running for the Liberals next federal election.

Bellwood was named Liberal candidate last summer but is withdrawing because of work demands. She found that, as a candidate, it took a lot of time and that she always had to be in campaign mode.

“I’m just not able to give the time that’s needed to be dedicated to it,” she said Tuesday.

I wonder how many other nominees are getting fed up with Stephane Dion's strategy of threatening an election for weeks at a time, then folding in face of the actual vote.

This approach has cost the Liberals a candidate, and quite possibly any hope of an upset in this riding.  Unless Stephane Dion can parachute a star candidate into this riding (current held by Conservative Randy Kamp), any last-minute nominee is likely to finish a distant third, as has happened in the last two elections.

Indeed, Stephane Dion's dithering has gone on for so long that Rani Bellwood was able to start a new business while waiting for one of Stephane Dion's election threats to materialize:

When she accepted the nomination last summer, she hadn’t started her consulting business. That’s now grown to the point she has meetings outside Maple Ridge most days.

“It’s unfortunate. What it boils down to was the fact I’m a single parent and I have to support my daughters financially.

“I was really looking forward to making a difference in this community.”

Nevertheless, Bellwood won't be helping make that difference in any capacity:

Bellwood predicted the Liberals would still do well, but added she won’t be involved in the campaign.

Let's wish Rani Bellwood luck with her new business.  For the sake of the Liberal Party, they had better hope the next nominee has plenty of time on his or her hands, so that he or she can maintain the fiction of being ready to fight an election on a moment's notice between now and October 2009.

Not everyone has the time to spend week after week playing Stephane Dion's game of make-believe.

Search for more opinions from Canadian bloggers on these related keywords
 Rani Bellwood  Liberal Party  Stephane Dion 

Sphere presents related news articles and blog posts
Sphere It!