By-elections to the 39th Canadian Parliament were held to fill vacancies in the House of Commons of Canada between the 2006 federal election and the 2008 federal election. The Conservative Party of Canada led a minority government 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 use ...

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 f ...

. 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. Sh ...

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 in ...

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

, 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 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 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 of

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 that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1935. It is located in Quebec, Canada. Its population in 2006 ...

were originally announced by Prime Minister Stephen Harper 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, 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 New Democratic Party on a substantial swing, whose candidate

Thomas Mulcair Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) Thomas is a male given name of Aramaic origins. The English spelling "Thomas" is a transliteration; through Latin "Thomas", of the approximate Greek translite ...

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 Stephen Harper 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, th ...

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 peop ...

, 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 territori ...

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 ...

as being "out of step with current Liberal policy." The Quebec-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 per cent 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 psychoanalyst Jean-Paul Gilson as their candidate. Gilson immigrated to Canada in 1993. The New Democratic Party, 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 o ...

'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 t ...

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

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 Macedo ...

and

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

, and former professor at

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous ...

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 federal political party founded in 1997 and deregistered on 31 March 2017. The party stood for Canadian nationalism, monetary and electoral reform, and oppose ...

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 t ...

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, New Democratic Party 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 Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean 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 ...

( Bloc). Although Gauthier resigned after the other two by-elections had already been called, Prime Minister Stephen Harper 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 for the Bloc Québécois in the riding of Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot from 2007 to 2011. She was the first Vietnamese Canadian ev ...

, 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 C ...

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 Member of Parliament for Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River in northern Saskatchewan. A former two-time Grand Chief of the Prince Al ...

(

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 ...

( 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 John Ferguson Godfrey, (born December 19, 1942) is a Canadian educator, journalist and former Member of Parliament. Background Godfrey was born in Toronto, Ontario. His father, Senator John Morrow Godfrey (June 28, 1912 – March 8, 2001), ...

(

Don Valley West Don Valley West (french: Don Valley-Ouest) is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1979. Its population in 2001 was 115,539. 13.6% of the population is Muslim, the ...

), 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 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 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 David Orchard (born June 28, 1950) is a Canadian author and political figure, member of the Liberal Party of Canada, who was the Liberal Party candidate for the Saskatchewan riding of Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River in the 2008 federal ...

, a former member of the

Progressive Conservative Party of Canada The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (PC; french: Parti progressiste-conservateur du Canada) was a centre-right federal political party in Canada that existed from 1942 to 2003. From Canadian Confederation in 1867 until 1942, the ...

and backer of

during the 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 Joan Beatty is a Canadian politician. She was the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party (NDP) member of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan for the constituency of Cumberland. On January 3, 2008 she was appointed the Liberal Party of Canada's c ...

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 Ralph Edward Goodale (born October 5, 1949) is a Canadian diplomat and retired politician who has served as the Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom since April 19, 2021. Goodale was first elected in 1974 as the member of Parliamen ...

, a prominent Saskatchewan MP, opposed Orchard's candidacy.Delacourt, Susan, "Dion accused of snubbing Orchard", ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...

'', January 5, 2008. Beatty, who was a New Democratic Party MLA in the 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 provincial election."Joan Beatty, Explain Yourself"
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 ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', 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 , 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, was dropped by the party's national council on October 31, 2007,Susan Delacourt, "Harper's team dumps city-friendly candidate"
''

'', November 1, 2007 reportedly for not following party policy. Warner eventually endorsed Rae rather than his replacement as Conservative candidate,

Don Meredith Joseph "Dandy" Don Meredith (April 10, 1938 – December 5, 2010) was an American football quarterback, sports commentator, and actor. He spent all nine seasons of his professional playing career (1960–1968) with the Dallas Cowboys of the Nat ...

, after Meredith reportedly told a voter who asked him a question about the ongoing 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 , 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 , 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 Joyce Murray (born July 11, 1954) is a Canadian politician, businesswoman and environmental advocate. A member of the Liberal Party of Canada, she has represented the riding of Vancouver Quadra in the House of Commons since 2008. She was re-e ...

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'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,

hold , align="right", Swing , align="right", -9.56 , align="right",

Willowdale

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

Martha Hall Findlay Martha Hall Findlay (born August 17, 1959) is a Canadian businesswoman, entrepreneur, lawyer and politician who previously served as the president and CEO of the Canada West Foundation, a Calgary-based think tank, and is now senior vice-preside ...

, 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,

hold , align="right", Swing , align="right", +3.1 , align="right",

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 Joseph Jean-Pierre Marc Garneau (born February 23, 1949) is a Canadian politician, retired Royal Canadian Navy officer and former astronaut who served as a Cabinet minister from 2015 to 2021. A member of the Liberal Party, Garneau was the mini ...

(

), Charles Larivée ( Bloc Québécois), Guy Dufort (

Anne Lagacé Dowson Anne Lagacé Dowson (born in Toronto, Ontario, January 29, 1959) is a Canadian radio journalist. Radio career A longtime host of CBC Radio's '' Radio Noon'', a daily current affairs and phone-in program in Quebec, she left to run for political off ...

(

New Democrat New Democrats, also known as centrist Democrats, Clinton Democrats, or moderate Democrats, are a centrist ideological faction within the Democratic Party in the United States. As the Third Way faction of the party, they are seen as cultural ...

), Claude William Genest (

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 combi ...

) 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 Bloc Québécois MP

'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 Frank Valeriote (born August 15, 1954) is a Canadians, Canadian politician. He was elected as the Liberal Party of Canada, Liberal Member of Parliament (Canada), Member of Parliament in 2008 by a small margin over the Conservative candidate Gl ...

for the Liberals, author and broadcaster Tom King for the NDP, business manager Mike Nagy for the Greens, Philip Bender ran for the

Libertarians Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's enc ...

, Kornelis Klevering ran for the

Marijuana Party Cannabis political parties are generally single-issue parties that exist to oppose the laws against cannabis. Australia In the 1970s, J.J. McRoach ran for parliament as candidate for the Australian Marijuana Party. He had an advertising camp ...

, Karen Levenson ran for the Animal Alliance Environment Voters Party, Manuel Couto for the Marxist-Leninist Party, Drew Garvie for the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

and

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

Don Valley West

The riding of

was held by Liberal

who initially said he would resign from the House of Commons on July 1, 2008 in order to accept a position as

headmaster A head master, head instructor, bureaucrat, headmistress, head, chancellor, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. In som ...

Toronto French School The Toronto French School (TFS), founded in 1962, is an independent, bilingual, co-educational, non-denominational school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Charles III, as King of Canada, is the royal patron of the school. The school rebranded in 2 ...

, but delayed his resignation until August 1. The delay was reportedly at the request of the Liberal Party which, the ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

'' 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 Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in oth ...

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 Elections Canada (french: Élections Canada)The agency operates and brands itself as Elections Canada, its legal title is Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (). is the non-partisan agency responsible for administering Canadian federal electio ...

has been notified of the vacancy, plus a minimum 36-day campaign) after a vacancy occurs in the House.

Rob Oliphant Robert Oliphant (born June 7, 1956) is a Canadian politician and a United Church minister. He served in the House of Commons as a Liberal Member of Parliament for the Toronto riding of Don Valley West from 2008 to 2011. He returned to office aft ...

was nominated as the Liberal Party's standard-bearer on March 2, 2008 after defeating former

Parkdale—High Park Parkdale—High Park is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1979. It was created during the 1976 electoral boundaries redistribution from parts of Parkdale, Hig ...

Sarmite Bulte Sarmite Drosma "Sam" Bulte, (born September 27, 1953) is a Canadian lawyer, advocate and politician. A member of the Liberal Party, she represented the Toronto riding of Parkdale-High Park in the House of Commons of Canada through three success ...

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 Conservative Party of Canada re-nominated 2006 candidate John Carmichael, the New Democratic Party nominated actor David Sparrow, while the

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

References

{{Canada elections Federal by-elections Federal by-elections Federal by-elections Federal by-elections 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