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Retired Cornwall Police Service (CPS) sergeant and former city councillor Denis Moquin is hoping to turn StormontDundasSouth Glengarry red once more.

The SDSG Liberal Party of Canada riding association officially announced on Tuesday it had selected Moquin as its candidate for the upcoming federal election, slated for Sept. 20. Moquin who officially opened his headquarters at 1170 Pitt St. on Wednesday evening spent 25 years with the CPS and sat at the council table for two years, from 2005-06.

Following his tenure with the local police force, he was then head of the Community Agencies of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, which operated under the Eastern Ontario Training Board.

Thats all Ive ever done work with people, help people and get answers for them, he said Thursday. When I was a police officer patrolling the streets in Cornwall, I heard a lot of concerns and I dealt with some many of them. Theres some work to do.

Although Moquin said he isnt what one would call a career politician, that wouldnt stop him from being the type that is going to be available to all residents.

It doesnt matter where they come from, whether theyre Conservatives, Liberals, NDPs or Greens, he said.

Its his belief that his years at the local council table has enabled him to realize what issues the city and SDG face and more precisely, what they need.

While I was there, I really learned a lot, he said. People were able to contact me at any time and I want to be doing the same thing now.

Moquins priorities mirror what the Liberal Party of Canada has been releasing since the start of the campaign.

The priorities that have been set up by Team Trudeau I think are all relevant for our area, he said. Middle class, jobs, housing, health, climate change all of those are all part of the concerns in the riding.

I want to hear what they need and Im going to bring it to Ottawa and thats all there is to it. I dont want Ottawa to come to the riding I want the riding to go to Ottawa.

Moquin also spoke of the plight local small business owners are currently facing.

Ive heard from small businesses and they are finding it very hard to get back to their normal business practice, he said. There are not a lot of people knocking on the door for employment at this time. The middle class, people need to have a better feeling that something good is coming.

Im the person that will represent our riding the best I can, for the next four years. This is my goal and my promise to every resident they will not regret sending me to Ottawa.

He and his party have their work cut out for them. A Liberal has not been elected since the creation of the SDSG electoral district, before the 2014 federal election which also happened to be the first federal election after the creation of the Conservative Party of Canada stopped splitting the right-leaning vote between two parties to the benefit of the Liberals.

The only federal election where Guy Lauzon or incumbent CPC MP Eric Duncan didnt earn over 50 per cent of the ballots cast was Lauzons first campaign in 2014 when he defeated Bob Kilger. Tom Manley (2006), Denis Sabourin (2008), Bernadette Clement (2011 and 2015), and Heather Megill (2019) never came closer than getting 38.5 per cent of the ballots cast which was during Clements second campaign when the Liberals won a majority in Parliament.

Moquins headquarters open seven days a week, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

fracine@postmedia.com

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SDSG Liberal candidate Moquin: 'I want the riding to go to Ottawa' - Standard Freeholder