Matrosovs calls it quits

Collingwood Enterprise Bulletin December 10 2010
COLLINGWOOD — Another local riding association will have to find a candidate, after the Liberal’s standard-bearer in Simcoe-Grey has officially called it quits.
Andrea Matrosovs announced Friday afternoon she was stepping down as the federal Liberal candidate.
“Two-thousand-and-ten has been a challenging year for our family,” Matrosovs said in a statement

emailed to the media and posted on her Facebook page. “After three-and-a- half years since my first nomination in April 2007, financial and family demands require me to resign as candidate.”
Matrosovs had intended to challenge two federal elections; in her first election, in 2008, she came a distant second to Helena Guergis, garnering just over 12,000 votes to Guergis’ 30,897. Matrosovs now says she will be living part-time in Prince Edward Island, where her husband, Chris, has a full-time position for more than a year.
Matrosovs said that she had been waiting for the riding association to ratify her resignation letter.
“I wish to thank all local Liberals who supported my candidacy, as well as the leader (Michael Ignatieff) and Liberal Party staff,” she wrote. “I remain dedicated to the Liberal Party of Canada and will continue to serve the party and its supporters wherever and however I am needed.”
Local Liberals now join the riding associations for the Green and Conservative parties in the search for a candidate. Green candidate Stuart Starbuck stepped down earlier this year in order to run for a council position in New Tecumseth; the Conservatives are on the verge of announcing a date for their nomination meeting, with three individuals — Dr. Kellie Leitch, Chris Carrier, and Paul Throop — announcing their intentions to challenge for the position.
Sources indicate the executive of the local Liberal riding association met Thursday night, and there are two individuals interested in contesting for the position.

Simcoe Grey Liberals to reopen nomination as Matrosovs resigns
New Tecumseth Free Press Online December 10, 2010
Free Press Online has learned that Simcoe Grey federal Liberal candidate Andrea Matrosovs has “resigned” and the process to nominate a new candidate will begin in full after Christmas.
Details at this point are still sketchy and unfolding. Ms. Matrosovs, a Collingwood resident who finished second to then Conservative incumbent Helena Guergis, won an uncontested renomination last year when speculation was rampant that an election was imminent last spring.
There’s renewed speculation that Stephen Harper’s minority government might trigger an election next spring.
The Simcoe Grey Liberals, Conservatives, and Green Party are without nominated candidates.
It’s anticipated the Simcoe Grey Conservatives will nominate their new candidate in February, to replace Ms. Guergis, who was punted from the Party and prohibited to run as their candidate, last April. Ms Guergis has vowed to run as an “independent Conservative.”
The Green Party had Stuart Starbuck as their candidate but he resigned in September to run for New Tecumseth council.
At this post (9:10 am), no further details about the Liberal nomination process in Simcoe Grey were available.