Mulcair to visit Sudbury July 27 on campaign-style swing

With his party riding high in the polls, federal New Democrat Leader Thomas Mulcair will be in Sudbury on July 27, as he tours the province ahead of the fall election.

George Soule, the NDP's associate director of media, said Monday that Mulcair's itinerary was still being finalized.

"But he will be there Monday morning," Soule said. "It's going to be a full campaign-style week.

"He'll be there in the morning before literally driving to North Bay, stopping in Sturgeon Falls."

Mulcair will arrive in the city from Thunder Bay. He started the tour in Toronto, visiting parts of the GTA, before heading to the southwestern part of the province and on to Northern Ontario.

“Mulcair will be stopping in ridings where New Democrats are ready to replace Stephen Harper’s Conservatives,” a release from the party said.

News of the NDP leader's visit follows release by the website www.threehundredeight.com of projections for each of Canada's 338 ridings. Its most recent projections has Mulcair 41 seats away from a majority government if an election were held today.

It pegs the NDP winning 129 seats, Prime Minister Harper's federal Conservatives with 117 seats, and Justin Trudeau's Liberals at 89 seats.

However, the projection pegs the NDP finishing third in Ontario, winning 29 seats compared to 54 for the Tories and 38 for the Liberals.

Locally, the website gives the NDP a 97 per cent chance of holding on to Nickel Belt, currently held by NDP incumbent Claude Gravelle, and a 94 per cent chance of winning Sudbury.

Sudbury is currently vacant, since Glenn Thibeault left the party to run (and win) the February byelection for the provincial Liberals.

The NDP has nominated Paul Loewenberg as its Sudbury candidate, while the Liberals are being represented by Paul Lefebvre, the Tories by Fred Slade and the Green Party by David Robinson.

Candidates in Sudbury are already in a byelection campaign, which is expected to be folded into the federal election slated for Oct. 19.