By-elections to the 43rd Canadian Parliament

By-elections to the 43rd Canadian Parliament are to be held to fill vacancies in the House of Commons of Canada between the 2019 federal election and the 44th Canadian federal election, unless the general election is called first. The 43rd Canadian Parliament has existed since 2019 with the membership of its House of Commons having been determined by the results of the Canadian federal election held on October 21, 2019. The Liberal Party of Canada currently has a minority government during this Parliament.

By-elections to the 43rd Canadian Parliament

Two by-elections were held on October 26, 2020 due to the resignation of Finance Minister Bill Morneau (Liberal, Toronto Centre) on August 17, 2020 to run for Secretary-General of the OECD,[1] and the resignation of Michael Levitt (Liberal, York Centre) effective September 1, 2020 to become the President and CEO of the Canadian Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre for Holocaust Studies.[2]

The writ for a by-election must be dropped no sooner than 11 days and no later than 180 days after the Chief Electoral Officer is officially notified of a vacancy via a warrant issued by the Speaker. Under the Canada Elections Act, the minimum length of a campaign is 36 days between dropping the writ and election day.[3]

Overview

By-election	Date	Incumbent	Party		Winner	Party		Cause	Retained
York Centre	October 26, 2020	Michael Levitt		Liberal	Ya'ara Saks		Liberal	Resigned to become CEO of the Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Center	Yes
Toronto Centre	October 26, 2020	Bill Morneau		Liberal	Marci Ien		Liberal	Resigned to run for Secretary-General of the OECD	Yes

October 26, 2020 by-elections

Scheduling

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced both by-elections on Friday September 18, along with Liberal candidates for each riding.[4] Annamie Paul, the newly elected leader of the Green Party and Green candidate for Toronto Centre, called on the government to delay the by-elections, citing increased restrictions on movement and activity in Toronto in light of rising cases of COVID-19.[5] Trudeau rejected changing the schedule, saying that the by-elections have to be held within a certain time period of the seats becoming vacant, and that the pandemic may be worse later in the year.[6] Any changes to by-election dates would be approved by the cabinet, but would have to first be proposed by the independent Chief Electoral Officer.[6] Paul responded by calling on parliament to pass new legislation – proposed by Elections Canada – that would give the agency more flexibility to respond to the pandemic.[7]

Toronto Centre

The riding of Toronto Centre was vacated on August 17, 2020 following the resignation of Liberal MP and Minister of Finance Bill Morneau to seek election as Secretary General of the OECD[1] Morneau had represented the riding since 2015, while the Liberals have held the riding since 1988.

Note: Candidates' names are as registered with Elections Canada.[8]

Canadian federal by-election, October 26, 2020: Toronto Centre Resignation of Bill Morneau
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Marci Ien	10,579	41.98	–15.39
	Green	Annamie Paul	8,250	32.73	+25.66
	New Democratic	Brian Chang	4,280	16.98	–5.29
	Conservative	Benjamin Gauri Sharma	1,435	5.69	–6.44
	People's	Baljit Bawa	271	1.08	–
	Libertarian	Keith Komar	135	0.54	–
	Independent	Kevin Clarke	123	0.49	–
	Free Party Canada	Dwayne Cappelletti	74	0.29	–
	No affiliation	Above Znoneofthe	56	0.22	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			25,203
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			25,203	30.96	-35.12
Eligible voters			81,400
	Liberal hold		Swing		-20.53

York Centre

The riding of York Centre became vacant on September 1, 2020, when Liberal MP Michael Levitt resigned to become the president and CEO of the Canadian Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre for Holocaust Studies.[2] The riding had been held by Levitt since 2015, when he won the riding from Conservative incumbent Mark Adler.

By September 7, five candidates had launched their campaigns for the Liberal nomination including 2019 Thornhill candidate Gary Gladstone, former chief fundraiser of the provincial Ontario Liberal Fund, Bobby Walman, as well as former Canadian Jewish News editor Yoni Goldstein.[9] It was announced on September 17 that communications specialist Ya'ara Saks would be appointed as the Liberal candidate.[10]

Rumoured candidates for the Conservative nomination included 2019 candidate Rachel Willson, York Centre MPP Roman Baber, and former parliamentary staffer Melissa Lantsman; they all declined.[11][12][13] Wilson announced on September 18 that she would not be running. The Conservatives ultimately nominated Julius Tiangson, who previously ran for the party in Mississauga Centre in 2015.[14]

NDP candidate Andrea Vásquez Jiménez[15] previously ran for the seat in the 2019 election.

People's Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier said he intended to run in either the Toronto Centre or York Centre by-election.[16] Bernier decided he would run in York Centre when the by-elections were announced.[17]

Perennial candidate John "The Engineer" Turmel registered as an Independent candidate.[15]

The Speaker's warrant regarding the vacancy was received on September 1, 2020; under the Parliament of Canada Act the writ for a by-election had to be dropped no later than February 28, 2021, 180 days after the Chief Electoral Officer was officially notified of the vacancy via a warrant issued by the Speaker.[18] Under the Canada Elections Act, the minimum length of a campaign is 36 days between dropping the writ and election day.[18]

Note: Candidates' names are as registered with Elections Canada.[15]

Canadian federal by-election, October 26, 2020: York Centre Resignation of Michael Levitt
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Ya'ara Saks	8,253	45.70	−4.50
	Conservative	Julius Tiangson	7,552	41.82	+5.11
	New Democratic	Andrea Vásquez Jiménez	1,046	5.79	−4.05
	People's	Max Bernier	642	3.56	–
	Green	Sasha Zavarella	461	2.55	−0.7
	Independent	John The Engineer Turmel	104	0.58	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			18,058
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			18,058	25.64	−36.12
Eligible voters			70,434
	Liberal hold		Swing		−4.81

See also

• List of federal by-elections in Canada

Notes

References

1. Zimonjic, Peter; Cochrane, David (August 17, 2020). "Bill Morneau resigns as finance minister and MP, will seek to head up OECD". CBC News. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
2. "Toronto Liberal MP resigns to helm Jewish human rights organization". CBC News. August 4, 2020. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
3. "Journalists vying for seat in Commons shows politics changing: Spector". The Hill Times. August 12, 2013. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
4. Gilmore, Rachel (2020-09-18). "PM Trudeau announces two Toronto-area byelections to be held Oct. 26". CTVNews. Retrieved 2020-10-14.
5. Staff writer (2020-10-11). "Green Party's Annamie Paul calls for suspension of Toronto by-elections". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2020-10-14.
6. Rabson, Mia (2020-10-09). "Byelections being held now because pandemic risks could get worse: Trudeau". CBC News. The Canadian Press. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
7. Alhmidi, Maan (2020-10-13). "New law needed to allow safe byelections in COVID-19 pandemic: Greens' Annamie Paul". CTVNews. Retrieved 2020-10-14.
8. Final list will be available on 7 October. "List of candidates - Toronto Centre (Ontario)". Elections Canada. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
9. "Saks and Gladstone entering hotly contested Liberal nomination race in York Centre". The Hill Times. September 7, 2020. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
10. Gilmore, Rachel (September 17, 2020). "Broadcast journalist Marci Ien will be Liberal nomination in Morneau's former riding". CTV News. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
11. Rana, Abbas (August 31, 2020). "Ontario MPP Baber, former senior staffer Lantsman, and former candidate Willson said to be eyeing Conservative nomination in York Centre". The Hill Times. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
12. Baber, Roman [@Roman_Baber] (September 1, 2020). "(1/3) I'm grateful for the support received in the last day. Despite media speculation, I am not eyeing a Federal nomination at this time" (Tweet). Retrieved September 6, 2020 – via Twitter.
13. Lantsman, Melissa [@MelissaLantsman] (September 3, 2020). "Thanks 🙏 for all of the love. This ⬇️ is a big decision and for me, it's not the right time" (Tweet). Retrieved September 6, 2020 – via Twitter.
14. Conservative Party [@CPC_HQ] (September 23, 2020). "Congrats to Ryan Lester & Julius Tiangson on their nominations in the by-elections for Toronto Centre & York Centre" (Tweet). Retrieved September 24, 2020 – via Twitter.
15. Final list will be available on 7 October. "List of candidates - York Centre (Ontario)". Elections Canada. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
16. "Maxime Bernier plans to run in a Toronto-area byelection". iPolitics. September 1, 2020. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
17. Benzie, Robert (September 18, 2020). "Maxime Bernier, Marci Ien running in two Toronto byelections called for Oct. 26". Welland Tribune. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
18. "Vacant Seats in the House of Commons Since the 2019 General Election". Elections Canada. Retrieved September 1, 2020.