Federal by-elections to be held next month in Manitoba, Quebec, Ontario

Voters will head to the polls next month for federal by-elections in four electoral districts in Manitoba, Quebec and Ontario.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces by-elections for Notre-Dame-de-Grace-Westmount, Quebec; Oxford, Ontario; Portage-Lisgar, Manitoba; and will be held on June 19 at Winnipeg South Centre, Manitoba.

One race follows the recent death of a sitting MP, while the other is to fill seats left vacant after sitting MPs leave office.

These include the former seat of Candice Bergen, former interim leader of the Conservative Party, and a seat held by People’s Party of Canada (PPC) leader Maxime Bernier, who is expected to become a roadblock.

portage-lisgar

Bergen stepped down Became MP after 14 years in February. She had 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 intention to run for the seat Earlier this week, before the by-elections are being called. The former Conservative cabinet minister, who left the Conservative Party in 2018 after losing the leadership battle to Andrew Scheer in 2017, has run for office twice since forming his own party. He was unsuccessful in both his attempts to get the seat in 2019 and 2021.

Brendan is the Conservative Party candidate for the Leslie riding, having won the nomination in April.

Winnipeg South Center

this seat was vacant since the death of jim carrlongtime Liberal MP and former cabinet minister, in December last year.

He passed away at the age of 71 after a year-long battle with cancer. Carr held a number of roles between 2015 and 2019, including Minister for Natural Resources and Minister for International Trade Diversification.

The Liberal candidate expected to win the vacant seat is Carr’s son, Ben Carr. He announced his candidacy in Februaryadding that he was “committed to serving this community as an honest and hardworking bridge-builder who brings people together to accomplish collaborative change.”

notre-dame-de-grace-westmount

Former astronaut and Liberal MP Marc Gurno announced he was leaving office in marchAfter 14 years as an MP.

During his “last speech” in the House of Commons on 8 March he told his colleagues, “My challenge to you is to find your better angels, and put aside the anger and the false indignation.” Be mean, but do it with respect and maybe even wit. Make Canadians proud of this House and the people in it.”

Garneau said he had promised his family that he would retire after completing the final report of a committee chaired by Medical Aid in Dying, a report that was submitted 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 for the riding is Anna Gainey, a former party chair. Gainey has been active on social media ahead of the call, tweeting about door-knocking in the riding and seeking endorsements from Liberal Party members.

oxford

In December 2022, former Conservative MP Dave McKenzie announced he was retiring from office After almost two decades of politics. He was re-elected for the Oxford riding during the 2021 federal election.

The candidate selected to represent the Conservatives in the upcoming by-election is Arpan Khanna, who received a boost earlier this week when Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre Turned up to a rally at Woodstock to support his run.

Khanna is a Brampton lawyer who served as co-chair of the Ontario campaign during Poilievre’s federal leadership campaign. He was announced as the candidate for Oxford only after the nomination process saw two senior members of the party’s riding union resign. McKenzie’s daughter, Deb Tait, also made a bid for the nomination.