Date set for Signal Hill byelection

Voters in a St. John'sriding will cast ballots for a new representative Nov. 1, Premier Danny Williams announced Tuesday.

Williams set the date for the byelection less than two weeks after former New Democratic Party leader Jack Harris resigned his seat in Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.

Harris had held the seat since 1990.

The byelection call sets in motion a contest between two people who have spent much of their lives campaigning, in their own ways, for the disenfranchised and for justice.

Lorraine Michael, the social activist who replaced Harris as NDP leader in May, will represent theparty in the district.

Michael is a former Roman Catholic nun who came to prominence in the 1980s as theleader of a Catholic social reform agency, and as a leader of the Coalition For Equality, a now-disbanded left-leaning group that brought together unions and grassroots activists.

Jerome Kennedy, a high-profile criminal defence lawyer, recently won the Progressive Conservative nomination in the district.

Kennedy has been a fixture in provincial legal circles, and has frequently spoken out on behalf of the rights of the accused.

He has criticized the experience of some judges, and most recently represented two of the three men whose cases sparked the Lamerinquiry on Newfoundland and Labrador's criminal justice system.

The Liberals, who form the official Opposition in the house of assembly, are not fielding a candidate in the byelection, in part to help Michael's candidacy.

Immediately after announcing the byelection date, Williams left Confederation Building with Kennedy to campaign in a downtown neighbourhood.

The seat, formerly known as St. John's East, had been a Tory stronghold until 1986, when New Democrat Gene Long won it in a byelection.

The PCsregained the seat in the 1989 general election, but it changed hands again the following year after Shannie Duff resigned her seat to seek the mayoralty in St. John's. Harris had represented the seat since.

Under amendments to the House of Assembly Act made in 2004, a provincial byelection must be called with 60 days of a seat becoming vacant, and held within 90 days.

Following Harris's retirement, the standings in the house of assembly were 35 PC seats, 11 Liberals, one New Democrat and one vacancy.

Michael began canvassing neighbourhoods in the district in August, prompting the PCs to derideher and Harris for unofficial campaigning.

By contrast, NDP supporters accused the governing Tories who have been soaring in public opinion polls of sensationalizing a non-issue.

Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi comprises much of the east end of downtown St. John's. Following a redistribution, it now includes part of the suburban east end neighbourhood of Pleasantville.