By-elections to the 39th Canadian Parliament were held to fill vacancies in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

between the 2006 federal election and the 2008 federal election. The

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...

led a

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...

for the entirety of the

39th Canadian Parliament The 39th Canadian Parliament was in session from April 3, 2006 until September 7, 2008. The membership was set by the 2006 federal election on January 23, 2006, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections. The Parliament w ...

, though did increase their number from by-elections. Twelve vacancies occurred during the life of the Parliament. Nine of these were filled by

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

s and the remaining three were filled at the 2008 federal election. By-elections to the 39th Canadian Parliament results by riding

Overview

2006

Two federal

by-elections A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

were held in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

on November 27, 2006, to fill vacancies in the House of Commons of Canada. Both seats were held by their incumbent parties.

London North Centre

Long-time MP

Joe Fontana Joseph Frank Fontana (born January 13, 1950) is an Italian-born Canadian politician. He was a Liberal member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1987 to 2006, and mayor of London, Ontario from 2010 until his 2014 convictions for fraud and ...

resigned from the seat in 2006 in order to run in the London municipal election as a candidate for mayor, requiring a

to be held. The election result presented a major breakthrough for the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

. Party leader

Elizabeth May Elizabeth Evans May (born June 9, 1954) is a Canadian politician, environmentalist, author, activist, and lawyer who is serving as the leader of the Green Party of Canada since 2022, and previously served as the leader from 2006 to 2019. S ...

tripled the party's local result in the 2006 general election just ten months earlier, placing slightly ahead of former London mayor

Dianne Haskett Dianne Louise Haskett (born March 4, 1955) is a Canadian lawyer, politician, and diplomat who served as the mayor of London, Ontario, Canada, serving from 1994 to 2000, and later ran unsuccessfully as the Conservative candidate in the 2006 feder ...

, the candidate of the governing

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Repentigny

MP Benoît Sauvageau was killed in a car accident on August 28, 2006. There had been pressure from

opposition parties Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''th ...

for Public Works Minister

Michael Fortier Michael M. Fortier, (born January 10, 1962) is a Canadian financier, lawyer and former politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Minister of Public Works and Government Services from 2006 to 2008, and Minister of Internati ...

, a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, to run here — however, he declined. Fortier was appointed to the Senate and the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

to represent

Greater Montreal Greater Montreal (french: Grand Montréal) is the most populous metropolitan area in Quebec and the second most populous in Canada after Greater Toronto. In 2015, Statistics Canada identified Montreal's Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) as with a ...

, which elected no Conservatives in the last federal election. Fortier pledged to resign from the Senate and seek election to the House of Commons in the next federal election. Instead, the Conservative candidate was Stéphane Bourgon, a lawyer. The Bloc Québécois, of which Sauvageau was a member, ran Raymond Gravel, a

Roman Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

. The

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

candidate was union activist and former Canadian navy member Réjean Bellemare, who had also run for the NDP in the previous general election. The

Green Party of Canada The Green Party of Canada (french: Parti vert du Canada) is a federal political party in Canada, founded in 1983 with a focus on green politics. The Green Party is currently the fifth largest party in the House of Commons by seat count. It el ...

had announced that Marc-André Gadoury would be their candidate, but central office did not complete and send paperwork to Marc-André Gadoury, not to name leader signature, in sufficient time to get on the ballot. Gadoury suggested that the Greens did not submit the paperwork on purpose and on November 25, 2006, '' La Presse'' reported that Gadoury was endorsing the NDP candidate, Réjean Bellemare. Raymond Gravel of the Bloc Québécois won the by-election with an approximately two-thirds majority of votes.

2007

On September 17, 2007, three federal

s were held in the

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

to fill vacancies in the House of Commons. Each of the three by-elections was won by a different political party. The by-elections in

Outremont Outremont is an affluent residential borough (''arrondissement'') of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It consists entirely of the former city on the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec. The neighbourhood is inhabited largely by fran ...

and

Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot (formerly known as Saint-Hyacinthe and St. Hyacinthe—Bagot) is a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1935. It is located in Quebec, C ...

were originally announced by Prime Minister

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...

on July 28, 2007."Harper calls byelections in two Quebec ridings"

CTV News CTV News is the news division of the CTV Television Network in Canada. The name ''CTV News'' is also applied as the title of local and regional newscasts on the network's owned-and-operated stations (O&Os), which are closely tied to the national ...

, July 28, 2007. The third vacancy, in

Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean (formerly known as Roberval) was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1949 until 2015. The riding was created in 1947 from parts of Lake St-John—Ro ...

, occurred after the other two by-election campaigns were already underway, but Harper announced the by-election in that riding on August 11, scheduling it for the same date."Harper calls third Quebec byelection for Sept. 17"

, August 11, 2007.

Outremont

The riding of

was left vacant by the resignation of

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

Jean Lapierre Jean-Charles Lapierre (May 7, 1956 – March 29, 2016) was a Canadian politician and television and radio broadcaster. After retiring from the government in 2007, he served as a political analyst in a variety of venues. He was Paul Martin's Qu ...

. The by-election resulted in a victory for the

on a substantial swing, whose candidate

Thomas Mulcair Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

became only the second New Democrat ever elected from

and the first in seventeen years. The Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot by-election and the Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean by-election were held on the same day. The by-election was triggered when Lapierre resigned from the House on January 28, to accept a position as a

political analyst Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

with Quebec television network

TVA The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a Federal government of the United States, federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, an ...

and Montreal radio station

98.5 FM The following radio stations broadcast on FM frequency 98.5 MHz: Argentina * 985 radio in Punta Alta, Buenos Aires * Cielo in San Bernardo, Buenos Aires * Meridiano in Coronel Charlone, Córdoba * Momentos in Grutly, Santa Fe * Orfeo in C� ...

. The Prime Minister of Canada has six months to call by-elections, and Prime Minister

called the by-election on the last possible day, July 28.

Candidates

Finally, Liberal leader

Stéphane Dion Stéphane Maurice Dion (born 28 September 1955) is a Canadian diplomat, academic and former politician who has been the Canadian ambassador to France and Monaco since 2022 and special envoy to the European Union since 2017. Dion was Leader of ...

appointed candidate

Jocelyn Coulon Jocelyn Coulon (born May 22, 1957) is an author, columnist, journalist, political analyst, and an international research expert in Quebec, Canada. He is well known for authoring various military and other international-related works. Coulon ran ...

on July 18. Prior to his current position as an international affairs expert, professor at the

University of Montreal A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

and director of the Francophone Research Network on the Operations of Peace (''Reseau francophone de recherche sur les operations de paix''), Coulon was a journalist for

Le Devoir ''Le Devoir'' (, "Duty") is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and throughout Canada. It was founded by journalist and politician Henri Bourassa in 1910. ''Le Devoir'' is one of few independent large-c ...

and a director of the

Pearson Peacekeeping Centre Established in 1994 by the Government of Canada as the Lester B. Pearson Canadian International Peacekeeping Training Centre (more commonly the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre, or simply the Pearson Centre) was an independent, not-for-profit organizat ...

's Montreal campus. The Liberal announcement was not without controversy, and was condemned by Jewish lobby group

B'nai Brith B'nai B'rith International (, from he, בְּנֵי בְּרִית, translit=b'né brit, lit=Children of the Covenant) is a Jewish service organization. B'nai B'rith states that it is committed to the security and continuity of the Jewish peopl ...

, even asking for the nomination to be revoked. The group cited Coulon's views on

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...

as being "out of step with current Liberal policy." The

Quebec-Israel Committee The Canada-Israel Committee (CIC) was the official representative of the organized Canadian Jewish community on matters pertaining to Canada–Israel relations. The Canada-Israel Committee maintained offices in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouve ...

stated that B'nai Brith's statements were exaggerated and that Coulon had every right to be the Liberal candidate. Though the riding is only 10 per cent Jewish, past Liberal candidates have traditionally relied heavily on the faithful support of this important voting block. The

Bloc Québécois The Bloc Québécois (BQ; , "Québécois people, Quebecer Voting bloc, Bloc") is a list of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada devoted to Quebec nationalism and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty movement, Que ...

, which came in second in the seat in 2006, selected Belgian-born, Lacanian psychoanalyst Jean-Paul Gilson as their candidate. Gilson immigrated to Canada in 1993. The

, third place in 2006, selected

. Mulcair is a former

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Member of the

National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (officially in french: link=no, Assemblée nationale du Québec) is the legislative body of the province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; french: link=no, déput ...

. He served as

Jean Charest John James "Jean" Charest (; born June 24, 1958) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 29th premier of Quebec from 2003 to 2012 and the fifth deputy prime minister of Canada in 1993. Charest was elected to the House of ...

's Minister of the Environment from 2003 to 2006, leaving cabinet amidst the controversy surrounding privatisation plans for Mont Orford provincial park. He was the MNA for Chomedey in

Laval, Quebec Laval (; ) is a city in Quebec, Canada. It is in the southwest of the province, north of Montreal. It is the largest suburb of Montreal, the third-largest city in the province after Montreal and Quebec City, and the thirteenth largest city in C ...

from 1994 to 2007. On April 20, Mulcair announced he was joining the New Democratic Party during a joint press conference with NDP Leader

Jack Layton John Gilbert Layton (July 18, 1950 – August 22, 2011) was a Canadian academic and politician who served as the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2003 to 2011 and leader of the Official Opposition in 2011. He previously sat on To ...

on Mont Royal. He currently serves as the NDP's Quebec spokesperson. Mulcair was nominated in an uncontested race on June 21 as the NDP candidate. The

selected former Ambassador Gilles Duguay. Mr. Duguay is a former Rhodes scholar of Oxford University in Great Britain, former law professor at the National University in Kinshasa, author of much of Rwanda's constitution, former ambassador to

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

and

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

, and former professor at

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

and the

. The

, fifth place in 2006, reselected their 2006 candidate, François Pilon, while the

Canadian Action Party The Canadian Action Party (CAP) (french: Parti action canadienne, PAC) was a Canadian Canadian confederation, federal political party founded in 1997 and deregistered on 31 March 2017. The party stood for Canadian nationalism, monetary reform, mo ...

selected biochemistry student Alexandre Amirizian. The newly formed neorhino.ca, successor to the Rhinoceros Party of Canada, fielded party founder

François Gourd François "Yo" Gourd is a Canadian political figure and entertainer, who has been involved in the Rhinoceros Party of Canada and the entartistes, two satirical political movements."Pied snipers". ''The Gazette'', January 31, 1999. He was also the ...

on August 7. Gourd wished to finish last in the election. Several

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

politicians also announced their candidacy, including Romain Angeles, who is running on a platform to abolish political parties; Mahmood Raza Baig, a former Canadian Action candidate in Repentigny and Papineau; Régent Millette, an Independent in Outremont in 2006;

John Turmel John C. Turmel (born February 22, 1951) is a perennial candidate for election in Canada, and according to the ''Guinness World Records'' holds the records for the most elections contested and for the most elections lost, having contested 105 el ...

, record holder for most elections contested and for the most elections lost; and Jocelyne Leduc.

Results

, - style="background:white;" , style="text-align:left;" colspan=2,

gain from

, align="right", Swing , align="right", –18.3 , align="right",

2006 Results

, - style="background:white;" , style="text-align:right;" colspan=3, Difference , align="right", 2,504 , align="right", 6.2 , align="right", , - style="background:white;" , style="text-align:right;" colspan=3, Rejected Ballots , align="right", 282 , align="right", 0.7 , align="right", , - style="background:white;" , style="text-align:right;" colspan=3, Turnout , align="right", 40,875 , align="right", 60.8 , align="right", , - style="background:white;" , style="text-align:left;" colspan=2,

hold , align="right", Swing , align="right", -0.7 , align="right",

Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean

The electoral district of

was left vacant by the resignation of

Michel Gauthier Michel Gauthier (; February 18, 1950 – May 30, 2020) was a Canadian politician, who served as leader of the Bloc Québécois from 1996 to 1997. As the party was the Official Opposition in the Parliament of Canada, Gauthier was also the Le ...

( Bloc). Although Gauthier resigned after the other two by-elections had already been called, Prime Minister

announced the by-election on August 11 for the same date as the others. Notably, Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean was a district which the Tories had heavily targeted in the 2006 election but had narrowly lost. It was seen as the district most likely to be winnable for the party in the by-elections — and thus the by-election Harper was most eager to actually schedule.

Results

2006 Results

, - style="background:white;" ! style="text-align:left;" colspan=3, Total valid votes !align="right", 38,903 !align="right", 100.00% !align="right", , - style="background:white;" ! style="text-align:right;" colspan=3, Total rejected ballots !align="right", 397 !align="right", 1.01 !align="right", , - style="background:white;" ! style="text-align:right;" colspan=3, Turnout !align="right", 39,300 !align="right", 62.15 !align="right", , - style="background:white;" ! style="text-align:right;" colspan=3, Difference !align="right", 3,123 !align="right", 8.03

Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot

The by-election in

, resulting from the resignation of

Yvan Loubier Yvan Loubier (born April 10, 1959 in Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian politician and one of the founders of the Bloc Québécois. He was a Bloc Québécois member of the House of Commons of Canada representing the district of Saint-Hyacinthe—B ...

, was won by BQ candidate

Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac (born February 6, 1972) is a former Canadian politician. She served as a Member of Parliament (Canada), member of Parliament for the Bloc Québécois in the riding of Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot from 2007 to 2011. She was th ...

, Loubier's former constituency assistant and the first

Vietnamese Canadian Vietnamese Canadians ( vi, Người Canada gốc Việt; french: Canadiens vietnamiens) are Canadian citizens of Vietnamese ancestry. As of 2016, there are 240,615 Vietnamese Canadians, most of whom reside in the provinces of Ontario, British Co ...

ever elected to the House of Commons of Canada. However, Thi Lac's 1,478-vote margin of victory over

candidate Bernard Barré was the narrowest victory for the BQ since the party first won the riding in the 1993 election. As in the other two ridings up for election, the

s were shut out; their candidate, Jean Caumartin, placed fourth, after the

NDP NDP may stand for: Computing * Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol * Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP * Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language Government * National ...

's Brigitte Sansoucy.

Results

2006 Results

, - style="background:white;" ! style="text-align:right;" colspan=3, Total valid votes !align="right", 49,693 !align="right", 100.00% !align="right", , - style="background:white;" ! style="text-align:right;" colspan=3, Total rejected ballots !align="right", 827 !align="right", 1.6 !align="right", , - style="background:white;" ! style="text-align:right;" colspan=3, Turnout !align="right", 50,520 !align="right", 66.4 !align="right", , - style="background:white;" ! style="text-align:right;" colspan=3, Difference !align="right", 15,515 !align="right", 31.2

2008

Four federal by-elections were held in

on March 17, 2008 to fill vacancies in the House of Commons of Canada. The vacancies were caused by the resignations of Liberal MPs

Gary Merasty Gary Merasty (born September 22, 1964 in Winnipeg, Manitoba) is a Canadian politician and former Liberal Party of Canada, Liberal Member of Parliament (Canada), Member of Parliament for Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River in northern Saska ...

(

Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River (french: Desnethé—Missinippi—Rivière Churchill; formerly known as Churchill River) is a federal electoral district in Saskatchewan, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canad ...

), Bill Graham (

Toronto Centre Toronto Centre (french: Toronto-Centre) is a federal electoral district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1872 to 1925, and since 1935, under the names Centre Toronto (1872–1903) ...

), Stephen Owen (

Vancouver Quadra Vancouver Quadra is a federal electoral district in the Metro Vancouver region of British Columbia, Canada. It has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1949. The constituency bears the name of the Spanish explorer who surveye ...

) and

Jim Peterson James Scott Peterson (born July 30, 1941) is a retired Canadian politician. He was a Liberal member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1980 to 1984 and again from 1988 to 2007 who represented the northern Toronto riding of Willowdale. He s ...

( Willowdale). A further three by-elections were scheduled for September 8 due to the resignations of

Lucienne Robillard Lucienne Robillard (born June 16, 1945) is a Canadian politician and a member of the Liberal Party of Canada. She sat in the House of Commons of Canada as the member of Parliament for the riding of Westmount—Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec. ...

(

Westmount—Ville-Marie Westmount—Ville-Marie was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1997 to 2015. Its population in 2001 was 97,226. Geography The district included the City of Westmount as w ...

), Brenda Chamberlain (

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...

) and

Maka Kotto Maka Kotto (born December 7, 1961) is a Cameroonian-born French-Canadian politician. Educated in France, Kotto immigrated to Quebec, Canada, where he was an educator before entering politics. Kotto was a Parti Québécois member of the National A ...

( Saint-Lambert), and an eighth by-election, resulting from the resignation of MP John Godfrey (Don Valley West), had been called for September 22, 2008. However, the four by-elections scheduled for September were pre-empted by the issuance on September 7 of election writs for the 2008 federal election.

March 17 by-elections

With all four by-elections taking place in ridings previously held by the Liberal Party of Canada, Liberals, media generally treated them as a test of

's leadership.

, a swing riding which the Liberals had won by a margin of just 68 votes in the 2006 Canadian federal election, 2006 election and in which the by-election campaign was mired in controversy around the process of appointing candidates, was seen as the only riding of the four that the Liberals could afford to lose — the other three were all safe Liberal ridings whose loss would have been seen as precipitating a major crisis for the party.

Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River

The riding of

became vacant on August 31, 2007 with the resignation of Liberal MP

. David Orchard, a former member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and backer of

during the 2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Liberal leadership contest, had announced that he would seek the Liberal nomination in Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River. However, on January 3, 2008, Dion used his power of appointment to appoint Joan Beatty as the Liberal candidate for that riding. While Dion had stated several times that he would use his power of appointment to ensure more female candidates, Dion offers plan for gender parity in Parliament
July 12, 2006 many felt the appointment was a snub to his erstwhile supporter and media reports suggested that Ralph Goodale, a prominent Saskatchewan MP, opposed Orchard's candidacy.Delacourt, Susan, "Dion accused of snubbing Orchard", ''Toronto Star'', January 5, 2008. Beatty, who was a Saskatchewan New Democratic Party, New Democratic Party MLA in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan legislature until her federal candidacy was announced, also faced some criticism, both for her switch in party affiliations and for resigning to run federally just seven weeks after being reelected in the 2007 Saskatchewan general election, 2007 provincial election."Joan Beatty, Explain Yourself"
CKOM, CKOM News/Talk 650, January 4, 2008. Some Liberal Party members in the riding threatened to boycott the by-election entirely, or to vote for another party, if Dion did not rescind the appointment and allow a normal nomination contest to take place."Saskatchewan Liberals may boycott by-election"
''The Globe and Mail'', January 26, 2008. Voter turnout: 10,462 of 41,841 registered electors (25.0%) , - style="background:white;" , style="text-align:right;" colspan=3, Total rejected ballots , align="right", 37 , align="right", 0.35% , align="right", - , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan=2,

gain from

, align="right", Swing (politics), Swing , align="right", +8.2 , align="right",

Toronto Centre

The riding of

became vacant on July 2, 2007, with the resignation of Liberal MP Bill Graham. The original

candidate, Mark Warner (Canadian politician), Mark Warner, was dropped by the party's national council on October 31, 2007,Susan Delacourt, "Harper's team dumps city-friendly candidate"
''Toronto Star'', November 1, 2007 reportedly for not following party policy. Warner eventually endorsed Rae rather than his replacement as Conservative candidate, Don Meredith (Canadian clergyman), Don Meredith, after Meredith reportedly told a voter who asked him a question about the ongoing Bed bug (insect), bedbug problem in the St. Jamestown neighbourhood to improve their personal hygiene. Voter turnout: 23,951 of 85,976 registered electors (27.9%). , - , Liz White (politician), Liz White , align=123 , align=0.51 , align=+0.39 , - style="background:white;" , style="text-align:right;" colspan=3, Total rejected ballots , align="right", 96 , align="right", 0.40 , align="right", - , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan=2,

hold , align="right", Swing (politics), Swing , align="right", +8.5 , align="right",

Vancouver Quadra

The riding of

became vacant on July 27, 2007 with the resignation of Liberal MP Stephen Owen. Joyce Murray won the Liberal nomination in the riding and faced a hard-fought campaign against Conservative challenger Deborah Meredith. Murray, originally an MLA and former provincial cabinet minister from New Westminster, grew up in the riding, but recently moved back to run for federal office. Her campaign was focussed on environmental issues. Meredith is a UBC law lecturer and has lived in Vancouver Quadra her whole life, campaigned primarily on a tougher judicial system. NDP candidate and UBC student Rebecca Coad focussed her attacks on Murray, criticizing her record as provincial environment minister in Gordon Campbell (Canadian politician), Gordon Campbell's government. Green Party candidate Dan Grice, a technology consultant, ran a campaign based on cutting down on carbon emissions and tax shifting, hoping for an electoral breakthrough for his party. On election day, early results showed Murray and Meredith in a dead heat, see-saw race. Later in the night, Murray was able to capture a more comfortable lead of several hundred votes, and the media declared her the winner. However, as the advanced polls were opened and counted, Meredith started to close the gap. After all 237 polls were counted, Murray remained in the lead, finishing with a narrow 151 (0.53%) vote margin above her Conservative opponent. Voter turnout: 28,165 of 83,121 registered electors (33.9%). , - style="background:white;" , style="text-align:right;" colspan=3, Total rejected ballots , align="right", 77 , align="right", 0.27% , align="right", , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan=2,

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Willowdale

The riding of Willowdale became vacant on July 12, 2007 with the resignation of Liberal MP

. Martha Hall Findlay, former Liberal leadership contestant, was a star candidate. She faced Conservative lawyer Maureen Harquail, NDP candidate Rini Ghosh, and Green candidate Lou Carcasole. On election night, Hall Findlay garnered nearly 60% of the vote. Voter turnout: 22,797 of 93,413 registered electors (24.4%). , - style="background:white;" , style="text-align:right;" colspan=3, Total rejected ballots , align="right", 93 , align="right", 0.41% , align="right", - , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan=2,

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Cancelled by-elections

Four by-elections scheduled for September 2008 were pre-empted by the issuance on September 7 of election writs for the 2008 federal election. In all four ridings, the by-election candidates continued to represent their parties into the general election.

Westmount—Ville-Marie

The riding of

had been vacant since January 25, 2008 due to the resignation of Liberal MP

. The nominated candidates were Marc Garneau (

), Charles Larivée (

), Guy Dufort (

), Anne Lagacé Dowson (New Democratic Party (Canada), New Democrat), Claude William Genest (Green Party of Canada, Green) and independents Régent Millette, David Sommer Rovins and Ronald Andrew Wattie. The by-election was scheduled for September 8.

Saint-Lambert

The riding of Saint-Lambert had been vacant since March 13, 2008 due to

's resignation in order to run for a seat in the Quebec National Assembly. Kotto was elected to the National Assembly in a May 12, 2008 provincial by-election. The new BQ candidate was Josée Beaudin. The NDP nominated Richard Marois, president of the Conseil régional de l'environnement de la Montérégie, the Liberals ran lawyer and Crown attorney Roxane Stanners, the Conservative candidate was Patrick Clune, and the Greens nominated occupational therapist Diane Joubert. The by-election was scheduled for September 8.

Guelph

The riding of

was held by Liberal Brenda Chamberlain, until she resigned her seat effective April 7, 2008. The Conservative candidate was originally businessman Brent Barr, but his candidacy was rejected by the party in October without specific reasons for the move being made public. Municipal councillor Gloria Kovach was subsequently nominated as the Conservative candidate and faced lawyer Frank Valeriote for the Liberals, author and broadcaster Thomas King (novelist), Tom King for the NDP, business manager Mike Nagy for the Greens, Philip Bender ran for the Libertarian Party of Canada, Libertarians, Kornelis Klevering ran for the Marijuana Party of Canada, Marijuana Party, Karen Levenson ran for the Animal Alliance Environment Voters Party of Canada, Animal Alliance Environment Voters Party, Manuel Couto for the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist), Marxist-Leninist Party, Drew Garvie for the Communist Party of Canada, Communist Party and

ran as an independent. The by-election was scheduled for September 8.

Don Valley West

The riding of Don Valley West was held by Liberal John Godfrey who initially said he would resign from the House of Commons on July 1, 2008 in order to accept a position as headmaster of Toronto French School, but delayed his resignation until August 1. The delay was reportedly at the request of the Liberal Party which, the ''National Post'' claimed did not want to fight four by-elections simultaneously for financial reasons. Godfrey's office stated the delay was due to a private members bill Godfrey had worked on not being given royal assent until June 26."Candidates girding for byelection calls"
, ''Hill Times'', July 14, 2008 This by-election was scheduled for September 22. Due to the timing of Godfrey's retirement, the Don Valley West by-election could not have been added to the September 8 trio. Under current Canadian election law, a by-election cannot occur any earlier than 47 working days (an 11-day period to ensure that Elections Canada has been notified of the vacancy, plus a minimum 36-day campaign) after a vacancy occurs in the House. Rob Oliphant was nominated as the Liberal Party's standard-bearer on March 2, 2008 after defeating former Parkdale—High Park MP Sarmite Bulte for the nomination on the fourth ballot. Constitutional lawyer Deborah Coyne had also contested the nomination but withdrew in February and backed Oliphant.Queen, Lisa
"Oliphant wins tough federal Liberal race"
, ''The (East York-Rivedale) Mirror'', March 3, 2008, accessed March 4, 2008 The

re-nominated 2006 candidate Conservative Party candidates, 2006 Canadian federal election#John Carmichael (Don Valley West), John Carmichael, the

nominated actor David Sparrow, while the

nominated Georgina Wilcock, a medical doctor with specialist training in obstetrics and gynecology.

References

{{Canada elections 2006 elections in Canada, Federal by-elections 2007 elections in Canada, Federal by-elections 2008 elections in Canada, Federal by-elections 39th Canadian Parliament, Federal by-elections Federal by-elections in Canada, 39th

Overview

2006

London North Centre

Repentigny

2007

Outremont

Candidates

Results

2006 Results

Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean

Results

2006 Results

Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot

Results

2006 Results

2008

March 17 by-elections

Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River

Toronto Centre

Vancouver Quadra

Willowdale

Cancelled by-elections

Westmount—Ville-Marie

Saint-Lambert

Guelph

Don Valley West

See also

References