News

The political battle for the multicultural federal riding of Outremont is going to have a decidedly international flavour to it.

A Conservative Party official said Tuesday that the party will run former diplomat Gilles Duguay in the Montreal riding.

Mr. Duguay, a lawyer by trade who has served Canada in various capacities across the globe, is to be formally introduced at a news conference at the University of Montreal Wednesday morning.

Mr. Duguay will challenge former journalist Jocelyn Coulon, currently a professor at the University of Montreal and a regular on Quebec television as a commentator on international events.

Thomas Mulcair, a former environment minister for the Quebec Liberals, will run for the New Democratic Party. The Bloc Québécois will be represented by Jean-Pierre Gilson.

The riding has been in Liberal hands for years.

Marc Rousseau, the Conservative Party's Outremont riding president, said Mr. Duguay will be a good match for Mr. Coulon on the international affairs front.

"His résumé is quite impressive and he could be a great counterpart in his knowledge of foreign policy to Coulon," Mr. Rousseau said.

The Montreal-born Mr. Duguay is a career diplomat who has served as the Canadian ambassador in Morocco, Cameroon, Romania, Bulgaria and Moldova.

Most recently, Mr. Duguay served as the Canadian representative at the International Civil Aviation Organization. He has also worked for Power Corp., the Montreal-based holding company.

Mr. Coulon was introduced last week by Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion and immediately came under fire from B'nai Brith Canada. The Jewish organization said in a news release that Mr. Coulon has an anti-Israel bias that is "out of step with current Liberal policy."

Mr. Coulon has spent his first days in politics defending himself and the opinion pieces he has penned in the past, saying that he supports healthy debate and is not anti-Israel.

The multicultural riding is home to a significant number of Montreal's Jewish population and the majority of the Hasidic Jews in the city.

The Outremont riding has been vacant since former Liberal transport minister Jean Lapierre quit politics in January. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has until Saturday to announce a date for the by-election.

Elections Canada says three other federal ridings are vacant, including another in Quebec.

Mr. Harper has until Aug. 25 to announce a by-election in St-Hyacinthe-Bagot, where Bloc Québécois MP Yvan Loubier resigned to run provincially for the Parti Québécois.

There are also vacancies in the Toronto Centre and Willowdale ridings in Ontario, both formerly held by the Liberals. But Mr. Harper has until Dec. 30 and Jan. 9, 2008, respectively, to call by-elections in those ridings.