Article content continued

Ahuntsic-Cartierville is one of only three ridings on the island of Montreal with no Liberal name. The other potential candidates say the delay in the nomination vote is hurting the party no matter who wins because little time will be left before the scheduled October federal election to mount an effective campaign against the NDP’s star candidate, Maria Mourani.

“What are we waiting for?” asked Anthony Di Carlo, one of the Liberal hopefuls and a lieutenant in the Canadian Forces. “There is only one logical extension of that argument and it’s that maybe one candidate is not ready for (the nomination).”

Di Carlo and the others seeking the candidacy sent a letter to party brass in late April asking for a meeting with “all the candidates” to arrange a nomination date.

The email was also sent to the Joly campaign and the words “all the candidates” were in bold and underlined.

“We did not get a response (from the party),” Di Carlo said.

Viken Attarian, an engineer who is also going for the candidacy, said no matter who wins, “it’s (almost) too late” to campaign effectively against Mourani, who has held the riding since 2006 and whose NDP is polling first in the province.

He said the “candidate will be handicapped” because of the short time frame to raise funds and enhance his or her profile in the riding before the election.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or

Over the past 18 months Trudeau has been criticized for allegedly breaking his promise to have “open nominations in every riding in the country” after certain candidates accused the party of interfering to favour a preferred name.