Global Courant 2023-05-15 00:16:00
Voters will go to the polls next month for federal by-elections in four constituencies in Manitoba, Quebec and Ontario.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced by-elections for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce-Westmount, Quebec; Oxford, Ontario; Portage–Lisgar, Manitoba; and Winnipeg South Centre, Manitoba takes place on June 19.
One race comes after the recent death of the incumbent MP, while others are to fill seats left vacant after the incumbent MPs have stepped down.
They include the former seat of Candice Bergen, former interim leader of the Conservative Party, a seat that People’s Party of Canada (PPC) leader Maxime Bernier hopes to win.
PORTAGE-LISGAR
Bergen resigned from her position as a member of parliament in February after 14 years. She has represented the riding of Portage-Lisgar since 2008 and served as interim party leader for the Conservatives in 2022 after Erin O’Toole was ousted as leader.
Bernier announced his desire to run for the chair earlier this week, before the midterm elections are held. The former Conservative cabinet minister, who left the Conservative Party in 2018 after losing the 2017 leadership contest to Andrew Scheer, has since run for office twice after forming his own party. Both of his attempts to secure a seat in 2019 and 2021 failed.
Branden Leslie is the Conservative Party’s candidate for driving and won the nomination in April.
WINNIPEG SOUTH CENTER
This seat had remained vacant since the death of Jim Carr, a former Liberal MP and former minister, in December last year.
He passed away after a long battle with cancer at the age of 71. Carr held several positions between 2015 and 2019, including as natural resources minister and international trade diversification minister.
The Liberal candidate hoping to win the vacant seat is Carr’s son, Ben Carr. He announced his candidacy in Februarysaying he was committed to “serving this community as an honest and hard-working bridge builder who brings people together to create collective change.”
NOTRE-DAME-DE-GRACE–WESTMOUNT
Former astronaut and Liberal MP Marc Garneau announced in March that he was stepping down from office after 14 years as an MP.
“My challenge to you is to find your better angels and take away the anger and false indignation,” he told his colleagues during what he called his “final speech” in the House of Commons on March 8. means, but do it with respect and maybe even humor. Make Canadians proud of this House and the people in it.”
Garneau said he had promised his family to retire after completing a final report for a committee he chaired on medical assistance for dying, a report filed in mid-February. As an astronaut, he was the first Canadian to fly in space in 1984 on Shuttle Mission 41-G. He was first elected as an MP in 2008.
The Liberal candidate tapped to ride along is Anna Gainey, the party’s former president. Gainey was active on social media prior to the call, tweeting about knocking on doors while driving and getting support from members of the Liberal party.
OXFORD
In December 2022, former Conservative MP Dave MacKenzie announced that he retired after nearly two decades in politics. He was re-elected to the Oxford ride in the 2021 federal election.
The candidate selected to represent the Conservatives in the upcoming by-elections is Arpan Khanna, who received a boost earlier this week when Conservative leader Pierre Poilièvre came to a rally in Woodstock to support his run.
Khanna is a Brampton attorney who served as co-chair of the Ontario campaign during Poilivre’s federal leadership campaign. He was only announced as a candidate for Oxford after an appointment process that saw two senior members of the party’s riding association resign. MacKenzie’s daughter, Deb Tait, had also bid for the nomination.
