Four byelections to take place June 19: A primer
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called four byelections for vacant seats left by three retirements and one by the death of former cabinet minister Jim Carr.
Byelections will take place on June 19 in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce–Westmount, Que., (formerly held by Liberal minister Marc Garneau); Oxford, Ont., (formerly held by Conservative MP Dave MacKenzie); Portage-Lisgar, Man., (formerly held by Conservative interim leader Candice Bergen); and Winnipeg South Centre, Man. (formerly held by Carr).
The riding of Calgary Heritage, Alta., (formerly held by Conservative MP Bob Benzen) is also vacant but a byelection has not been called yet.
Here, we preview the ridings and candidates.
Winnipeg South Centre, Man.
The riding
Winnipeg South Centre has been a Liberal stronghold since 1988 when former foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy won it after boundaries were redrawn from two adjacent ridings. When he retired in 2000, Anita Neville held it for the Liberals until 2011. The Conservatives won it for one term from 2011-2015 when Joyce Bateman defeated Neville by 696 votes. Jim Carr recaptured the riding for the Liberals in 2015 and became the Minister of Natural Resources. He was re-elected in the riding in the 2019 and 2021 elections. Carr died of cancer in December 2022.
The candidates
Ben Carr, Liberal
The son of Jim Carr, Ben is also a former Director of Parliamentary Affairs to the Minister of Canadian Heritage from 2016 to 2018, helping to lead on the development of Indigenous languages legislation, as well as establishing Sept. 30 as a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Prior to politics, he was a high school principal and vice-president of Indigenous Strategy Alliance.
He was named a Future 40 Leader for his work in advancing truth and reconciliation in Manitoba.
Damir Stipanovic, Conservative
After serving as an air traffic controller in the Canadian Air Force reserves, Damir became a civilian air traffic controller with NavCanada for 26 years.
He volunteers in the Winnipeg community for Harvest Manitoba, the Arthritis Society and Manitoba's Crohn's and Colitis Society. He also served on the Columbus Courts (Manitoba Housing Authority) board of directors.
He says that affordability, accountability and crime are pressing concerns for him and "wants to bring common sense to the table, including balancing the budget and ending catch and release.”
Julia Riddell, NDP
Julia is a practising clinical psychologist and adjunct professor at the University of Manitoba. She focuses on improving health care access and delivery for youth, Indigenous peoples and individuals living with mental health issues.
She has volunteered for the Hamilton Freeskool, the Skydragon Community Centre, the Hamilton Centre for Teaching Peace, and the Victorian Order of Nurses.
Portage-Lisgar, Man.
The riding
Portage-Lisgar, Man., was created in 1997 after boundary readjustments. Since then, it has been a conservative stronghold starting with Jake Hoeppner who won the riding as a then-Reform MP. Brian Pallister, former Manitoba premier, held the riding from 2000 until 2008 as a Canadian Alliance then Conservative MP when he retired from federal politics.
Candice Bergen, former interim Conservative Party leader, represented Portage-Lisgar for 15 years and resigned from office on Feb. 1, 2023.
All previous MPs handily won the riding with at least 50 per cent of the vote except for in 1997 when Hoeppner, then running as a Reform candidate and Pallister, running as Progressive Conservative candidate, split the vote and received 40.25 and 35.94 per cent respectively.
In the last election campaign, the People's Party of Canada candidate, Solomon Wiebe, received 21.6 per cent of the vote — the highest vote percentage received by a PPC candidate across the country. This is a significant result, considering Bergen received 76 per cent of the vote in 2011 and 70.8 per cent of the vote in 2019. In 2021, she received 52.5 per cent, losing votes to the PPC.
That's likely why PPC Leader Maxime Bernier is running in Manitoba when his hometown is Beauce, Que. Bernier was a previous Conservative cabinet minister under Stephen Harper and represented the Quebec riding for 13 years. He previously ran as the Conservative Party leader and formed the PPC after he lost. He ran once as an Independent (receiving 28.4 per cent of the vote) and once as PPC leader in his home riding (receiving 18.2 per cent of the vote).
Nationally, the PPC received 4.9 per cent of the vote. In Manitoba, the party received 7.6 per cent support, the largest share of any province.
Bernier says the byelection will be between him and Conservative candidate Branden Leslie. Bernier's campaign has messaging similar to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre about freedom rights and being against the "woke cult."
In 2021, Bernier was arrested in Manitoba because he broke public health orders during COVID.
Leslie said of his opponent: "Maxime Bernier is an opportunist from Quebec who will say or do anything he thinks people want to hear."
The Liberals, meanwhile, received 11 per cent support in 2021 and the NDP received 13.4 per cent. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in the riding helping Liberal candidate Kerry Smith this week.
The NDP have not yet nominated a candidate to run in the byelection.
The candidates
Branden Leslie,
Conservative
Branden is a former Hill staffer who worked for the Parliamentary Secretary to the Public Safety minister. He later worked as manager of policy and government relations for the Grain Growers of Canada, focusing on agricultural issues related to trade, transportation, innovation, business risk management and family farm viability. He has spoken out against the carbon tax and the Liberal's plan to reduce fertilizer use in farming
Maxime Bernier, People’s Party
Maxime says he formed the PPC "after realizing that the Conservative Party of Canada was too intellectually and morally corrupt to reform, having abandoned conservative principles long ago." He previously served as the minister of foreign affairs and of industry and also served as minister of state for small business and tourism under the Harper government. He served as the industry critic in opposition.
Kerry Smith, Liberal
Kerry is the senior director of the Manitoba Métis Federation and focuses on supporting Indigenous families and youth. She currently leads a province-wide employment and training department and was appointed as a member of the Future Skills Council.
Oxford, Ont.
The riding
The riding of Oxford is a rural southwestern Ontario riding that has flipped back and forth between the Conservatives and the Liberals but has been predominantly Conservative. Since it was created in 1935, the Liberals have held it for 25 years and the Conservatives the rest of the time, with a 40-year stretch between 1953 and 1993. The Liberals won the seat in 1993 and held it until Dave MacKenzie won it back for the Conservatives in 2004. The riding became vacant when MacKenzie resigned because of mobility problems on Jan. 28.
There was some controversy when MacKenzie publicly endorsed Liberal candidate David Hilderley because of concerns about the Conservative nomination process. One candidate was disqualified a week before the nomination meeting and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and former leader Andrew Scheer endorsed eventual winner Arpan Khanna, who is not from the area.
Deb Tait, MacKenzie’s daughter and a veteran Woodstock city councillor, and Rick Roth, former communications director to former Trade Minister Ed Fast, were the other two candidates vying for the Conservative nomination in the riding.
After Khanna won, two riding association executives resigned. Tait also came out to endorse Hilderley.
MacKenzie won the riding with 47 per cent of the vote in the last election, followed by the Liberals at 20.5 per cent.
The candidates
Arpan Khanna,
Conservative
Arpan is a lawyer who served as the Ontario Campaign Co-Chair for Pierre Poilievre’s leadership campaign. He is currently the Conservative Party’s National Outreach Chair. He is a small business owner who owns his own law firm and previously founded a martial arts studio. From 2011-2013, he worked in the OLO of the Ontario government and then worked as a regional advisor for the federal ministers of multiculturalism and national defence. He ran for the party in 2019 in Brampton, Ont.
David Hilderley, Liberal
David is a retired teacher and principal, and currently works as a real estate agent. He is the chair of the Golden Gala, co-chair of the South Gate Centre, and previous board member of the Woodstock Art Gallery. He previously ran as a mayoral candidate in his hometown of Woodstock, which he lost by 200 votes, and ran provincially in 2011. His policy priorities include preserving farmland, creating jobs and protecting the environment.
Cody Groat,
NDP
Cody is a Western University assistant professor in the Department of History and the Indigenous Studies program. He is a Mohawk band member of the Six Nations of the Grand River.
His policy priorities include addressing affordable housing, access to mental health services, affordability for seniors and environmental sustainability. He serves on the Canadian Commission for UNESCO Memory of the World Program and is the President of the Indigenous Heritage Circle.
Notre-Dame-de-Grâce–Westmount, Que.
The riding
Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount was created in 2015 after boundaries were redrawn in 2012. The riding became vacant when former minister Marc Garneau resigned his seat on March 8, 2023. He was first elected in 2008. The riding is a traditionally Liberal stronghold, even with the previous riding boundaries, but the NDP traditionally come in second place. Garneau received 53.8 per cent of the vote in the 2021 election while the NDP received 19.2 per cent. In 2011, it was a two-way race between Garneau and the NDP candidate. Garneau won the riding by just 642 votes.
The candidates
Anna Gainey, Liberal
Anna is the former Liberal Party president and executive chair of Canada 2020. She previously worked for ministers of national defence and veterans affairs. She founded the Gainey Foundation, which provides funding for environmental and arts education programs for youth. She also sat on several boards including: WarChild Canada, the Pointe-à-Callière Museum, and La Fondation de l’Institut de Cardiologie de Montréal.
Jean-François Filion, NDP
Jean-François, an English teacher, is a member of the NDP riding association executive. His policy priorities include more housing co-ops in urban areas, Indigenous reconciliation, climate change and public education.
Mathew Kaminski, Conservative
Mathew is a chartered accountant and previously worked in public audit and institutional investment accounting at EY and Maples Group. He's currently the treasurer of the riding association and graduated from Concordia University in 2020. He ran in the 2021 election and received 14 per cent of the vote. He will be starting his MBA this fall.
Laurence Massey, Bloc Québécois
Laurence is a graduate student who ran in the 2021 election for the Bloc in the riding of Saint-Léonard-Saint-Michel. Her policy priorities include the environment, preserving the French language and equality. "I believe that politics is a tool that must serve democracy. Citizens must have a say in the affairs of state, which must then govern according to the choices expressed by society. That's not exactly what's happening at the federal level," she says.
Jonathan Pedneault, Green
Jonathan is the co-leader of the Green Party with Elizabeth May. He is a former journalist and human rights activist. He previously worked as a researcher with the Conflict and Crisis division at Human Rights Watch. He spent two years living on Svalbard, in the high Arctic, and years reporting from places affected by extreme weather events such as the Sahel and Central Asia or with refugees leaving drought and hurricane affected Central America. This is his first federal election campaign.