Doucet to run in Cape Breton

Ottawa City Hall veteran Clive Doucet will make his seventh run for office next month, for the first time federally and for the first time as a Green.

Doucet is expected to officially announce his candidacy on Tuesday to run for the Green party in Cape Breton-Canso, the Nova Scotia riding where he has maintained a home all his life.

The 73-year-old grandfather said he had planned to spend “a quiet retirement” in Cape Breton, but felt compelled to run because of his concerns for the environment.

“I never had any federal ambitions whatsoever — I was always a local guy — but now that I’m here, I’m seeing the ravages of climate change,” Doucet said in a phone interview from his oceanside property in Grand Étang, N.S.

Climate change, he said, means there’s no more sea ice, which has left the coast vulnerable to winter erosion. It’s retreating at a rate of 10 feet a year, he said. In April alone, the area experienced nine storms with winds above 100 km/h. “With winds like that, you can’t even leave the house. You can’t open a car door or it will get ripped off.”

Doucet approached Green Leader Elizabeth May and offered to run for the party.

Doucet won four Ottawa municipal elections, representing Capital Ward from 1997 to 2010. He ran unsuccessful bids for mayor in 2010 and 2018.

Liberal incumbent Rodger Cuzner has held Cape Breton-Canso since it was formed in 2004. He is not seeking re-election. bcrawford@postmedia.com