Redfern Avenue resident Allen Nutik's foray into provincial politics will have to wait until the next time around.
After recently announcing that he would run in the Notre-Dame-de-Grace riding in the Dec. 8 election, the leader of the fledgling AffiliationQuebec party has withdrawn his candidacy and says his party will not field any candidates in this election after all.
"The unfortunate but stark reality is that AQ does not have enough money, resources, infrastructure, nor essential support at this moment to justify taking a realistic run at winning the riding," Nutik stated last week. "We have not been sufficiently successful at the task of effective party building and the requirement of attracting an adequate supportive working cadre to accomplish our worthy and necessary goals."
Nutik was an early contender in the NDG race, announcing his candidacy last month shortly after the news of Liberal MNA Russell Copeman's resignation.
Well-known in Westmount for running in municipal elections as far back as the 1980s, Nutik made it clear that AffiliationQuebec is very much alive and its commitment to protecting the full rights of all Quebec citizens is as strong as ever. He remains optimistic that his party will be fielding candidates in the next provincial race — which may not be too far off.
"Should an administrative team materialize to create and develop a truly viable political structure, there is always tomorrow," Nutik said. "The probability that Quebecers will elect another minority government on Dec. 8 is considerable, so we may have to re-visit the next Quebec election much sooner than most of us contemplate."
