Mark A MacDonald to Succeed MPP Jim Brownell – Wins Provincial Liberal Nomination in SD&SG Ontario HD VIDEO – June 14, 2011 – Cornwall Ontario

Cornwall ON – It was very tough for me to watch the Liberal nomination in SD&SG last night.    I had admiration and respect for all three of the contenders and they all had different advantages and flaws.

My paternal grand-father was as pro boxer though and I have to admit I admired the sheer hard work and desire that the winner, Mark A MacDonald exerted during his quest to be the man to take over for the very popular MPP, Jim Brownell.

Those are not going to be very easy shoes to fill; and while Pat Finucan more resembled the style and vibe of Mr. Brownell; and Mr. MacDonald is a very different type of politician compared to the MPP; it was very interesting to watch the results come down.

The room started to fill up with close to 700 people by the end of the night.   There was an audible gasp though when a bus arrived with a contingent of new Canadians who entered wearing the Red Sashes sported by MacDonald supporters.

Mr. MacDonald, said to have signed up more members than the other two contenders combined worked the room prior to the voting along with Mr. Finucan and Sabourin.

In the end it was a one ballot victory.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeIn0teDPXY

True to form Mr. MacDonald started campaigning today in Morrisburg.  No rest as he stated that he’s not taking anything for granted in this election and clearly is focused on not allowing the long time Liberal seat to turn Blue in October.

Concession and Acceptance Speeches

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAJy4sc56CM

As Pat Finucan stated, Mark embraced young people( Including the two that nominated him)  and new Canadians in an exciting manner which plants seeds and gives hope for the upcoming election.    It will be interesting to see if the Liberals of SD&SG pull together and get behind their candidate and create a Red Machine to counter the Big Blue Machine and Orange Crush.

I think the experienced and wise Denis Sabourin summed up much of the challenges and positives to move forward with.   The question now is how will the local team respond and whether Mr. MacDonald can turn his energy and hard work into victory in October.