4 federal byelections are coming, but these ones are poised for the spotlight
Global News
Four vacancies in the House of Commons means voters in three provinces will head to the polls next month to elect new members of Parliament.
With four federal byelections set in three provinces next month, one of those provinces, in particular, will likely draw the attention of political analysts.
“All eyes will turn to Manitoba on election night,” said Darrell Bricker, CEO of Ipsos Public Affairs.
On June 19, voters in the Manitoba ridings of Portage—Lisgar and Winnipeg South Centre will choose their next members of Parliament, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Sunday. Voters in the Ontario riding of Oxford and Quebec’s Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount will also head to the ballot box that night.
Vacancies forced Trudeau to call the byelections. Liberal MP and former cabinet minister Marc Garneau, the retired astronaut who held Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, resigned in March after 15 years in politics. Dave MacKenzie, Conservative MP for Oxford, stepped down in January.
Longtime Liberal MP and former cabinet minister Jim Carr held Winnipeg South Centre until his death in December. And Portage-Lisgar was left vacant when Conservative MP and former interim party leader Candice Bergen resigned in February.
All four ridings have been relative strongholds for the incumbent candidates in recent elections, but the Manitoba ridings in particular will generate interest nationally, political analysts say.
“The government always has the most to lose in byelections to the extent that it’s going to be seen as a bad day for the government, a possible referendum on the government, even though that’s not necessarily how the people in the riding are thinking,” said Lori Turnbull, director of the school of public administration at Dalhousie University.