- Canadian federal by-elections, 2007
On
September 17 ,2007 , three federalby-election s were held in the Canadian province ofQuebec to fill vacancies in the House of Commons. Each of the three by-elections was won by a different political party.The electoral district of Outremont was left vacant by the resignation of Liberal Party MP
Jean Lapierre . The by-election resulted in a victory for theNew Democratic Party on a substantial swing, whose candidateThomas Mulcair became only the second New Democrat ever elected fromQuebec 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 with Quebec television network TVA and Montreal radio station 98.5 FM. The Prime Minister of Canada has six months to call by-elections, and Prime MinisterStephen Harper called the by-election on the last possible day, July 28.Candidates
Finally, Liberal leader
Stéphane Dion appointed candidateJocelyn Coulon on July 18. [cite web|url=http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=6aa8fe39-530f-44ba-b67c-f024b0decb1a&k=20376|title=Coulon to run as Outremont's Liberal|accessdate =2007-07-29|publisher=Canoe.ca|date=2007-07-18] Prior to his current position as an international affairs expert, professor at theUniversity of Montreal 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 forLe Devoir and a director of thePearson Peacekeeping Centre 's Montreal campus.The Liberal announcement was not without controversy, and was condemned by Jewish lobby group
B'nai Brith , even asking for the nomination to be revoked. The group cited Coulon's views onIsrael , theUnited States andHamas as being "out of step with current Liberal policy." [cite web|url=http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070728/quebec_byelections_070728/20070728?hub=CTVNewsAt11|title=Harper calls byelections in two Quebec ridings|accessdate =2007-07-29|publisher=CTV.ca|date=2007-07-28] TheQuebec-Israel Committee 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% Jewish, past Liberal candidates have traditionally relied heavily on the faithful support of this important voting block.The
Bloc Québécois , which came in second in the seat in 2006, selected Belgian-born, Lacanian psychoanalystJean-Paul Gilson as their candidate. Gilson immigrated to Canada in 1993.The
New Democratic Party , third place in 2006, selectedThomas Mulcair . Mulcair is a former Liberal Member of theNational Assembly of Quebec . He served asJean Charest '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 inLaval, Quebec 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 on Mont Royal. [cite web|url=http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2007/04/20/4080245-cp.html|title=Layton recruits ex-Quebec environment minister to carry NDP banner|accessdate =2007-07-29|publisher=Canoe.ca|date=2007-04-20] He currently serves as the NDP's Quebec spokesperson. Mulcair was nominated in an uncontested race on June 21 as the NDP candidate. [cite web|url=http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/070620/national/layton_candidate_4|title=Former Quebec cabinet minister to run in Montreal riding as NDP candidate|accessdate =2007-07-29|publisher=Yahoo News Canada|date=2007-07-20]The Conservatives, 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 toCameroon ,Morocco ,Romania ,Bulgaria andMoldova , and former professor atMcGill University and theUniversity of Montreal .The Green Party, fifth place in 2006, reselected their 2006 candidate, François Pilon, while the
Canadian Action Party selected biochemistry studentAlexandre Amirizian . The newly-formedNeorhino.ca , successor to theRhinoceros Party of Canada , fielded party founderFrançois Gourd on August 7. Gourd wished to finish last in the election.Several Independent 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 C. Turmel , record holder for most elections contested and for the most elections lost; andJocelyne Leduc .Results
- bgcolor="white"
align="left" colspan=2|New Democratic Party gain from Liberal
align="right"|Swing
align="right"| –18.3
align="right"2006 result
- bgcolor="white"
align="right" colspan=3|Difference
align="right"|2,504
align="right"|6.2
align="right"
- bgcolor="white"
align="right" colspan=3|Rejected Ballots
align="right"|282
align="right"|0.7
align="right"
- bgcolor="white"
align="right" colspan=3|Turnout
align="right"|40,875
align="right"|60.8
align="right"
- bgcolor="white"
align="left" colspan=2|Liberal hold
align="right"|Swing
align="right"| -0.7
align="right"Notes
References
* [http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070728/quebec_byelections_070728/20070728?hub=CTVNewsAt11 CTV.ca article]
* Une campagne en vacances fr [http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20070808/CPACTUALITES/70808011/1025/FRONTPAGE]Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean The electoral district of
Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean was left vacant by the resignation ofMichel Gauthier (Bloc). Although Gauthier resigned after the other two by-elections had already been called, Prime MinisterStephen Harper called the by-election on11 August for the same date as the others [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070811.wbyelection0811/BNStory/National/home] .Results
{| class="wikitable"
- style="background-color:#E9E9E9"! colspan="6"|Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean by-election,17 September ,2007
- style="background-color:#E9E9E9"! colspan="2" style="width: 200px"|Party! style="width: 170px"|Candidate! style="width: 40px"|Votes! style="width: 40px"|%! style="width: 40px"|+/–
-
style="width: 185px"| Conservative PartyDenis Lebel
align=right|17,463
align=right|59.7
align=right|+22.5
-
style="width: 185px"|Bloc Québécois
Céline Houde
align=right|7,830
align=right|26.8
align=right|–18.4
-
style="width: 185px"| Liberal Party
Louise Boulanger
align=right|2,795
align=right|9.6
align=right|+1.8
-
style="width: 185px"|New Democratic Party
Éric Dubois
align=right|675
align=right|2.3
align=right|–3.2
-
style="width: 185px"|Green Party
Jean-Luc Boily
align=right|499
align=right|1.7
align=right|–2.6
-
colspan="3" | Total
align=right | 29,262
align=right | 100|2006 results
- bgcolor="white"!align="left" colspan=3|Total valid votes!align="right"|38,903!align="right"|100.00%!align="right"
- bgcolor="white"!align="right" colspan=3|Total rejected ballots!align="right"|397!align="right"|1.01!align="right"
- bgcolor="white"!align="right" colspan=3|Turnout!align="right"|39,300!align="right"|62.15!align="right"
- bgcolor="white"!align="right" colspan=3|Difference!align="right"|3,123!align="right"|8.03!align="right"
- bgcolor="white"
align="left" colspan=2|Bloc Québécois hold
align="right"|Swing
align="right"| -21.4
align="right"
References
* [http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070728/quebec_byelections_070728/20070728?hub=CTVNewsAt11 CTV.ca article]
* [http://www.ndp.ca/ridings/quebec?from=50&limit=50]Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot The by-election in
Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot , resulting from the resignation ofYvan Loubier , was won by BQ candidateÈve-Mary Thaï Thi Lac , Loubier's former constituency assistant and the firstVietnamese Canadian ever elected to the Canadian House of Commons. However, Thi Lac's 1,478-vote margin of victory over Conservative candidate 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 Liberals were shut out; their candidate, Jean Caumartin, placed fourth, after the NDP's Brigitte Sansoucy.Results
{| class="wikitable"
- style="background-color:#E9E9E9"! colspan="6"|Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot by-election,17 September ,2007
- style="background-color:#E9E9E9"! colspan="2" style="width: 200px"|Party! style="width: 170px"|Candidate! style="width: 40px"|Votes! style="width: 40px"|%! style="width: 40px"|+/-
-
style="width: 185px"|Bloc Québécois Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac
align=right|13,443
align=right|42.1
align=right|-13.9%
-
style="width: 185px"| Conservative Party
Bernard Barré
align=right|11,965
align=right|37.5
align=right|+12.7%
-
style="width: 185px"|New Democratic Party
Brigitte Sansoucy
align=right|2,538
align=right|7.9
align=right|+2.4%
-
style="width: 185px"| Liberal Party
Jean Caumartin
align=right|2,376
align=right|7.4
align=right|-2.4%
-
style="width: 185px"|Green Party
Jacques Tétreault
align=right|1,169
align=right|3.7
align=right|-0.2%
-
style="width: 185px"|Neorhino.ca
Christian Willie Vanasse
align=right|384
align=right|1.2
align=right
-
style="width: 185px"|Canadian Action Party
Michel St-Onge
align=right|61
align=right|0.2
align=right
-
colspan="3" | Total
31,936
|2006 results
- bgcolor="white"!align="right" colspan=3|Total valid votes!align="right"|49,693!align="right"|100.00%!align="right"
- bgcolor="white"!align="right" colspan=3|Total rejected ballots!align="right"|827!align="right"|1.6!align="right"
- bgcolor="white"!align="right" colspan=3|Turnout!align="right"|50,520!align="right"|66.4!align="right"
- bgcolor="white"!align="right" colspan=3|Difference!align="right"|15,515!align="right"|31.2!align="right"
- bgcolor="white"
align="left" colspan=2|Bloc Québécois hold
align="right"|Swing
align="right"| -10.1
align="right"References
* [http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070728/quebec_byelections_070728/20070728?hub=CTVNewsAt11 CTV.ca article]
* [http://www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/National/2007/08/05/001-npd-plan-algues.shtml Brigitte Sansoucy to run for the NDP]
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