by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

was held in the federal riding of

Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner (formerly Medicine Hat) is a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district in southern Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1908. Following the Canadian f ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, on 24 October 2016 following the death of

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

MP Jim Hillyer. The

safe seat A safe seat is an electoral district which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combination of both. With such seats, there is very little chance of a seat changing h ...

was held by the Conservative candidate Glen Motz on a reduced majority. The

was the first to be held in the

42nd Canadian Parliament The 42nd Canadian Parliament was in session from December 3, 2015, to September 11, 2019, with the membership of its lower chamber, the House of Commons of Canada, having been determined by the results of the 2015 federal election held on Octob ...

Background

Constituency

The constituency covers the City of

Medicine Hat Medicine Hat is a city in Southern Alberta, southeast Alberta, Canada. It is located along the South Saskatchewan River. It is approximately east of Lethbridge and southeast of Calgary. This city and the adjacent Town of Redcliff, Alberta, R ...

and surrounding areas in the southeast corner and southern U.S. border region of Alberta, including

Cypress County Cypress County is a municipal district in southeastern Alberta, Canada that surrounds the City of Medicine Hat and the Town of Redcliff. The municipality is part of Census Division 1, Alberta.http://www.albertafirst.com/profiles/statspack/2 ...

, the County of Forty Mile No. 8, Warner No. 5 and the Town of Warner, and Cardston County and the Town of Cardston.

Representation

The riding has been held by centre-right parties since Bert Hargrave defeated Liberal incumbent Bud Olson, himself a former Social Credit MP, in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

. This was the first by-election in the 108-year history of the Medicine Hat constituency. The seat was vacated on March 23, 2016, when

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC; , ), sometimes referred to as the Tories, is a Government of Canada, federal List of political parties in Canada, political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main Right-wing ...

MP Jim Hillyer died in his office following a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

Campaign

The Speaker's warrant regarding the vacancy was received on March 24, 2016.

Candidates

Retired Medicine Hat Police inspector Glen Motz defeated businessman Brian Benoit, former Cardston-Taber-Warner and

Calgary-Glenmore Calgary-Glenmore, styled Calgary Glenmore from 1957 to 1971, is a Provinces and territories of Canada, provincial electoral district (Canada), electoral district in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The district is mandated to return a single member to ...

MLA Paul Hinman, lawyer Michael W. Jones, and party worker Joe Schow for the

nomination, which was held in late June. Cypress-Medicine Hat MLA Drew Barnes, former

MLA Blake Pedersen, and Dan Hein, Hillyer's closest competitor for the nomination in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, all declined to run for the Conservative nomination despite speculation to the contrary. Well-known

businessman Stan Sakamoto was the Liberal candidate. The Libertarian Party of Canada nominated Sheldon Johnston as its candidate. The Libertarians and the Rhinoceros Party nominated candidates for the first time in Medicine Hat.

Results

2015 result

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2016 Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner federal by-election Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner federal by-election Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner federal by-election Federal by-elections in Alberta Politics of Medicine Hat Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner federal by-election