Fight for Vancouver Granville billed as choice between Justin Trudeau and Jody Wilson-Raybould

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      Liberals in Vancouver Granville are preparing to name a candidate in the October 2019 federal election.

      The riding is held by now independent MP Jody Wilson-Raybould, a former Liberal.

      Wilson-Raybould, who is running for a second term, was kicked out of the Liberal caucus by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

      She was removed in April this year amid a tumult around the criminal prosecution of engineering behemoth SNC-Lavalin.

      David Gruber chairs the Liberal association in Vancouver Granville, one of the top ridings to watch in the fall election.

      According to Gruber, the election in the riding ultimately boils down to a choice by voters between Trudeau and Wilson-Raybould.

      “I think that the riding association’s expectation is that come election day, people in Vancouver Granville will be thinking about who do they want to be the prime minister and the government after election day,” Gruber told the Georgia Straight in a phone interview.

      For Gruber, the likely choice is Trudeau.

      “We’re cautiously optimistic that they’ll decide they want Justin Trudeau to be leading a Liberal government after election day, and they’ll vote accordingly,” Gruber said.

      The Liberal riding chair was asked about the organization’s cautious optimism of their prospective candidate winning over Wilson-Raybould.

      “Well I don’t think you ever want to predict in advance with certainty what voters will do,” Gruber said.

      The latest projection as of July 14, 2019 by 338Canada.com, an online electoral prediction site, indicates a toss-up between Wilson-Raybould and whoever candidate will represent the Liberal Party.

      According to Gruber, a candidate screening process is currently underway.

      "Once we receive the results of that, we'll set a nomination meeting date," he said. "I would expect it would be around three weeks from now."

      Gruber noted that is a "good level of interest" among prospective candidates.

      "There are people who have been involved in the past in the party, either as contestnats for other nominated positions before or as candidates in other ridings before," Gruber said about those who are considering a Liberal candidacy, "and there are also people who have public profile in the community who have expressed interest."

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