Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has asked Gov. Gen. Mary Simon to dissolve parliament, triggering a late-summer election that will send voters to the polls on Sept. 20.
The move comes less than two years after the Liberals were voted in as a minority government and as the country enters a fourth wave of infections from COVID-19.
Here in Cambridge, three major parties in the Kitchener South-Hespeler federal riding already had candidates in place in anticipation of a rumoured fall election.
Tyler Calver will take the banner of the Conservatives after winning a virtual contest against Helen Jowett as the candidate of choice. Where Calver has no previous political experience, Jowett currently sits on the Region of Waterloo council as one of of the two Cambridge councillors, excluding the mayor.
For the same riding, Liberals nominated Valerie Bradford as the candidate. The selection was made in a virtual nomination process that took place June 23, said association chief executive officer Mike Titizian.
The process to find a new Liberal candidate for the riding opened up last year when MP Marwan Tabbara announced he was stepping away from the Liberal caucus to sit as an independent MP.
Bradford is a longtime worker with the City of Kitchener, and is the Liberal riding association's Policy Chair.
Financial advisor Suresh Arangath will be representing the NDP in the Kitchener South-Hespeler riding.
Mike Mooney, with the Kitchener South-Hespeler Green Party of Canada, emailed in a response to say a candidate has not been selected yet.
Incumbent Liberal Bryan May will face Connie Cody, who was acclaimed as the candidate for the Conservative Party in the Cambridge riding.
Michele Braniff has been announced as the Cambridge riding candidate for the Green Party of Canada. Her submitted bio says she has had a varied career as a lawyer, mediator, middle management of a non-profit, mental health service provider, and post-secondary-level teacher.
Cambridge NDP has named Lorne Bruce as their candidate for the snap federal election. The father of two is vice president and political action chair for the Waterloo Regional Labour Council, vice president executive board of the United Food and Commercial Workers, an advocate for the Ontario Health Coalition and a 35-year-employee with Zehrs Markets.
--- with files from Doug Coxson & Mark Pare
