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 Ottawa—Vanier in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada on 3 April 2017 following the death of

Mauril Bélanger Mauril Adrien Jules Bélanger (June 15, 1955 – August 15, 2016) was a Canadian politician. A member of the Liberal Party of Canada, he represented Ottawa—Vanier in the House of Commons through a by-election victory in 1995 until his deat ...

on August 16, 2016. 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 Liberal candidate Mona Fortier on a reduced majority. The by-election was scheduled to coincide with four others across the country;

Calgary Heritage Calgary Heritage is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2015. History Calgary Heritage was created by the 2012 federal electoral boundaries redistribution and w ...

Calgary Midnapore Calgary Midnapore is a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2015. It has been represented by Stephanie Kusie since she won the 2017 Calgary ...

Markham—Thornhill Markham—Thornhill may refer to: *Markham—Thornhill (federal electoral district) *Markham—Thornhill (provincial electoral district) Markham—Thornhill is a provincial electoral district (Canada), electoral district in Ontario, Canada. It el ...

and Saint-Laurent.

Background

Constituency

The riding, with a large

Franco-Ontarian Franco-Ontarians ( or if female, sometimes known as ''Ontarois'' and ''Ontaroises'') are Francophone Canadians that reside in the province of Ontario. Most are French Canadians from Ontario. In 2021, according to the Government of Ontario, ther ...

population in Vanier, is one of the most solidly Liberal in the country, having elected Liberals both federally and provincially in every election since its creation. In fact, the previous electoral district which comprises most of the constituency, Russell, had been solidly Liberal since 1887. The riding is home to many

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

s and generally corresponds to the wards of Beacon Hill-Cyrville, Rideau-Rockcliffe and Rideau-Vanier.

Representation

until his death on August 16, 2016, from

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, Terminal illness, terminal neurodegenerative disease, neurodegenerative disorder that results i ...

(also known as Lou Gehrig's disease). The riding was one of the most solidly Liberal in the country, having elected Liberals both federally and provincially in every election since its creation in

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

."Trudeau calls five by-elections for April 3"
. ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', February 22, 2017. The Speaker's warrant regarding the vacancy was received on August 23, 2016.

Candidates

After several prominent potential candidates, including Bélanger's widow Catherine Bélanger, Ottawa councillors Tobi Nussbaum and Tim Tierney, and 2014 council candidate Catherine Fortin LeFaivre declined to run, eight candidates sought the Liberal nomination:

Senate 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 ...

staffer Khatera Akbari, lawyer Jean Claude Dubuisson, communications consultant Mona Fortier, Liberal staffer Eric Khaiat, former

Cape Breton Highlands—Canso Cape Breton Highlands—Canso was a federal electoral district in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1968 to 1997. History This riding was created in 1966 from Antigonish—Guysb ...

MP Francis LeBlanc, public servant Ainsley Malhotra, former executive director of The Humanitarian Coalition Nicolas Moyer, and Unique FM executive director Véronique Soucy. Up to 6,500 party members were eligible to vote in the nomination contest. Mona Fortier won the nomination on February 5, 2017. Unsuccessful 2015 candidate Emilie Taman, a

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

law professor and daughter of former

Supreme Court Justice The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest-ranking judicial body in the United States. Its membership, as set by the Judiciary Act of 1869, consists of the chief justice of the United States and eight associate justices, any six of ...

Louise Arbour Louise Arbour, (born February 10, 1947) is a Canadian lawyer, prosecutor and jurist. Arbour was the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, a former justice of the Supreme Court of Canada and the Court of Appeal for Ontario and a former Chief Pr ...

, ran again for 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 Dev ...

Parliament Hill Parliament Hill (), colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern bank of the Ottawa River that houses the Parliament of Canada in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. It accommodates a suite of Gothic revival buildings whose ...

staffer Adrian Papara defeated former New Brunswick MLA

Joel Bernard Joel Bernard (born December 8, 1963) is a Canadian conservative politician. Political career Provincial He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, representing Nepisiguit, in the general election of 1999 and became deputy sp ...

for the Conservative Party nomination, decided on February 16. Educator and community activist Nira Dookeran was the

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

candidate.

Results

2015 results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ottawa-Vanier federal by-election, 2017 2017 elections in Canada 2017 Ottawa-Vanier April 2017 in Canada 2017 in Ottawa Politics of Ottawa