LONDON – Incumbent MP Irene Mathyssen will be the New Democrat candidate in London-Fanshawe in the next federal election when she will ask voters to allow her to continue her work as the Member for London-Fanshawe while Ryan Dolby will represent the NDP again in Elgin-Middlesex-London. Mathyssen received a unanimous vote of confidence from New Democrats at the London-Fanshawe NDP nomination. Dolby also received unanimous support from New Democrats in his riding, after leading the NDP to its strongest showing ever in the Elgin-Middlesex-London riding in the 2008 election.
“It has been a pleasure and privilege to serve the people of London-Fanshawe since 2006. I’ve been able to help individual families with problems around Employment Insurance, Canada Revenue matters, and other federal concerns, and bring federal funding to London-Fanshawe to create jobs in the community. I am honoured by the strong vote of confidence London-Fanshawe New Democrats have given me to continue this work,” says Mathyssen.

Dolby, in a heart felt speech talking about the kind of Canada he wants his children, nieces, and nephews to inherit said his riding deserves better than what they are getting. "Our riding needs an MP who won't just rubber stamp the Harper-Ignatieff agenda, but will stand up for the needs of everyday people in our communities. Irene's 'Made-In-Canada' bill is one example of the common sense representation we need in our communities to create real job opportunities. I am so proud of her, she speaks up not only for her riding, but the larger community and region, she speaks up for the people in my riding while their own MP sits back and does nothing for the average person. I hope to join the NDP caucus in Ottawa to give Elgin-Middlesex-London the representation the people deserve."

Newly elected Federal NDP President Peggy Nash travelled to London for the nomination where she addressed area New Democrats, encouraging them to work hard to build on Mathyssen's success.

"Canada is a better place today because you sent Irene Mathyssen to parliament. She was given a tough file with Status of Women, especially under a Conservative government that really doesn't believe in women's issues, and she has done a remarkable job with it. Women across Canada owe Irene our thanks," said Nash.

"Many people have a perception of London being a 'wealthy' city, but as I was driving into London today, I was thinking about the thousands of jobs lost in this area over the past two years. London is becoming a tale of two cities, the wealthy, and the rest of us. I was thinking of how proud I am of my friend Irene, how proud her constituents should be of Irene, for her efforts to improve Employment Insurance, and for introducing her 'Made-In-Canada' legislation which would starting putting thousands of Canadians back to work right across the country. You have a wonderful, compassionate, and hard working Member of Parliament in Irene Mathyssen and we need to not only work to re-elect her, we need to work to elect more New Democrats in the London area and increase our NDP team in parliament," Nash concluded.