Voters will participate in the eighth federal byelection from late August to mid-April following the announcement of Ontario Conservative MP Larry Brock’s impending departure. Brock, who won the election in 2021 to represent the Brantford–Brant South riding in southwestern Ontario, is resigning from the House of Commons to take up a position at the Crown attorney’s office in Brantford, Ont.
This summer has seen the resignation of three Conservative MPs. Saskatchewan MP Cathay Wagantall will step down at the end of the month, while Quebec’s Richard Martel has been appointed to the Senate. Consequently, byelections will be held at the end of the month in Martel’s Chicoutimi–Le Fjord riding, as well as in North Vancouver–Capilano and Beaches–East York in Toronto.
The races in North Vancouver–Capilano and Beaches–East York are to fill the vacancies left by former Liberal cabinet ministers Jonathan Wilkinson and Nate Erskine-Smith. Wilkinson resigned to become Canada’s ambassador to the European Union in Brussels, while Erskine-Smith’s venture into Ontario politics was unsuccessful.
Bloc Québécois MP Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay resigned earlier this summer to contest for the Parti Québécois in the Quebec election scheduled for October 5. The Saint-Hyacinthe–Bagot–Acton riding, vacated by Savard-Tremblay, is the only federal seat currently open without a scheduled byelection.
Byelections must be called by the prime minister within 11 to 180 days after a seat becomes vacant, with formal campaigns lasting between 36 and 50 days. Therefore, a byelection vote must occur between 47 days and seven months following a seat’s vacancy. However, the prime minister’s action hinges on the formal resignation of an MP.
Alexandre Boulerice, a current Independent and former NDP MP, is set to run for Québec solidaire in the provincial election but has not yet relinquished his Montreal seat. Meanwhile, former Liberal cabinet minister Steven Guilbeault, who announced his resignation as an MP on May 27, is poised to step down on August 28.
Larry Brock has announced his resignation effective September 18, coinciding with the House of Commons’ return from summer recess on September 21.