Bill Flanagan, the dean of the law school at Queen's University, has called a press conference for Thursday afternoon in which he will “make an announcement about Liberal nomination race in Kingston and the Islands.”
Kingston and the Islands has been represented since 1988 by a certain Peter Milliken who, after setting the all-time record for longevity in the Speaker's Chair in the Canadian House of Commons, has decided to retire at the end of this Parliament.
Before Milliken, Kingston was represented by Progressive Conservative Flora MacDonald.
And, with Milliken out of the picture, the Conservative Party of Canada believes it has a good shot of making eastern Ontario, including Kingston, completely blue.
Flanagan, presumably, seeks to spoil the plans of S. Harper and Co. by winning the nomination and then winning the seat.
Here's some excerpts from a piece Ian Elliot had in the Kingston Whig-Standard just before Milliken announced his retirement:
Local Liberals are tight-lipped about whether Peter Milliken's traditional summer barbecue for his supporters is going to be his last.
Milliken has called a news conference to follow the annual members-only barbecue at his house near Elginburg.
Milliken has not only never held a news conference after the annual garden party, but no Kingston reporter can recall him holding a news conference, ever. Even when he chooses to run for re-election, he makes his announcement with a written statement.
… Bittu George, a longtime party member and former city councillor, is often mentioned as a possible successor to Milliken, but he was similarly tight-lipped yesterday.
… [Milliken] said he did not enjoy the 2008 election campaign as much as he enjoyed past ones. In that election, he won by his lowest margin ever, both in the number of votes cast for him and percentage of all votes cast.
Milliken has won some of the most massively lopsided votes ever in the riding — sometimes while barely even bothering to campaign — but in 2008, Conservative hopeful Brian Abrams came within 4,000 votes of unseating him.
Abrams is standing again for the Tories, while Eric Walton is already on deck for the Greens and Daniel Beals is running for the NDP.
George wouldn't say if he is interested in being a candidate but did acknowledge that people have encouraged him to run.
Bill Flanagan, the dean of law at Queen's University is another name that is mentioned as a successor to Milliken, but he was equally reticent to confirm any of the rumours swirling around the Kingston political scene.
“I can only say that I'm looking forward to Saturday's barbecue and it will be about celebrating the achievements of Peter Milliken,” he said. “I'm expecting a great turnout and we're all just hoping it doesn't rain.”