2017 Lac-Saint-Jean federal by-election
A by-election was held in the federal riding of Lac-Saint-Jean in the Quebec, Canada on 23 October 2017 following the resignation of Conservative MP Denis Lebel. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition announced in June 2017 that he would be stepping down from Parliament. The seat was gained by the Liberals by Richard Hébert on a huge swing, and a surprising gain from a governing party; similar to the one seen two months later in the South Surrey—White Rock federal by-election.
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Riding of Lac-Saint-Jean | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 41.61% ( 24.17%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Background
Constituency
Lac-Saint-Jean is a Francophone riding in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region of northeast Quebec, and takes its name from the lake of the same name. The largest town in the riding is Alma.
Representation
The area was represented by Denis Lebel since 2007, who served as a minister in the Harper Cabinet. The seat was recreated for the 2015 general election, with Lebel being re-elected in a tight four-way marginal race.
What is now Lac-Saint-Jean was previously represented by the Bloc Québécois from 1993 to 2007 and, provincially, three of the area's five seats are held by the Parti Québécois, while the New Democratic Party was the runner-up in the riding in the past two elections.[1]
Campaign
The seat was vacated on August 9, 2017, due to the resignation of former Conservative cabinet minister and deputy leader of the Conservative Party, Denis Lebel.[1] Lebel announced his decision to resign on June 19, 2017, saying that his resignation would take effect prior to the beginning of the fall session of parliament. He had been an MP for 10 years, representing Lac-Saint-Jean since its creation in 2015 and the former riding of Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean from 2007 until 2015.[1]
The warrant issued by the Speaker regarding the vacancy was received by the Chief Electoral Officer on August 9, 2017; under the Parliament of Canada Act the writ for a by-election had to be dropped no sooner than August 20, 2017, and no later than February 5, 2018 (11 and 180 days, respectively, from the warrant receipt date).[2] On September 17, 2017, the writ was dropped for a by-election held on October 23, 2017.[3]
Former Roberval city councillor Rémy Leclerc was acclaimed as the Conservative candidate on September 5.[4] Saguenay Mayor Jean Tremblay was speculated to be a candidate for the Conservative nomination, but did not run as the nomination took place before his term as mayor was completed in November 2017.[5]
Psychologist Gisèle Dallaire, the NDP's candidate in this riding in the 2015 election, was acclaimed as her party's candidate on September 25.[6][7]
Dolbeau-Mistassini Mayor Richard Hébert defeated former Mashteuiatsh vice-chief Marjolaine Étienne for the Liberal nomination on September 7.[8][9] Desbiens Mayor Nicolas Martel toyed with seeking the Liberal nomination, but ended up declining.[10]
Union official Marc Maltais was named the Bloc Québécois candidate on September 26.[11] Bloc leader Martine Ouellet, who does not have a seat in the House of Commons, ruled out standing as a candidate in the by-election as she is not from the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region.[12]
Pianist Yves Laporte was named the Green Party candidate on September 28.[13]
Results
| Canadian federal by-election, October 23, 2017: Lac-Saint-Jean Resignation of Denis Lebel | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Richard Hébert | 13,442 | 38.59 | +20.15 | ||||
| Conservative | Rémy Leclerc | 8,710 | 25.01 | −8.26 | ||||
| Bloc Québécois | Marc Maltais | 8,141 | 23.37 | +5.00 | ||||
| New Democratic | Gisèle Dallaire | 4,079 | 11.71 | −16.75 | ||||
| Green | Yves Laporte | 457 | 1.31 | −0.15 | ||||
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | 34,829 | 98.67 | $133,786.71 | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 469 | 1.33 | ||||||
| Turnout | 35,298 | 41.61 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 84,829 | |||||||
| Liberal gain from Conservative | Swing | +14.20 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada | ||||||||
2015 results
| 2015 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Conservative | Denis Lebel | 18,393 | 33.27 | -8.99 | $144,196.85 | |||
| New Democratic | Gisèle Dallaire | 15,735 | 28.46 | -3.67 | $90,827.25 | |||
| Liberal | Sabin Simard | 10,193 | 18.44 | +15.19 | $8,743.01 | |||
| Bloc Québécois | Sabin Gaudreault | 10,152 | 18.37 | -2.64 | $31,823.52 | |||
| Green | Laurence Requilé | 806 | 1.46 | +0.12 | – | |||
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | 55,279 | 98.35 | $278,724.96 | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 925 | 1.65 | – | |||||
| Turnout | 56,204 | 65.78 | – | |||||
| Eligible voters | 85,445 | |||||||
| Conservative notional hold | Swing | -2.66 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[14][15] | ||||||||
References
- "Denis Lebel's departure to put Andrew Scheer's Conservative leadership to tough electoral test". CBC News. June 20, 2017. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
- "A by-election will take place in Lac-Saint-Jean". Elections Canada, August 10, 2017.
- "News Releases and Media Advisories". Elections.ca. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
- "Rémy Leclerc se lance dans la course conservatrice dans Lac-Saint-Jean" Archived 2017-08-27 at the Wayback Machine. Le Quotidien, August 24, 2017.
- "Le Parti conservateur du Canada ouvre la porte à Jean Tremblay". Le Journal de Québec, June 26, 2017.
- ICI.Radio-Canada.ca, Zone Politique - (September 25, 2017). "Gisèle Dallaire lance sa campagne dans Lac-Saint-Jean avec Thomas Mulcair". Radio-Canada.ca. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
- "Gisèle Dallaire se présente pour le NPD dans Lac-Saint-Jean" [Gisèle Dallaire stands for the NDP in Lac-Saint-Jean]. Radio-Canada (in Canadian French). Saguenay, Quebec. August 22, 2017. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
- "Conservatives contemplate Quebec byelection, impact of NDP leadership - National Newswatch". Nationalnewswatch.com. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
- "Marjolaine Étienne brigue l'investiture libérale dans Lac-Saint-Jean" [Marjolaine Étienne seeks the Liberal nomination in Lac-Saint-Jean] (in Canadian French). Saguenay, Quebec: Radio-Canada. August 18, 2017. Retrieved August 20, 2017.
- "Nicolas Martel ne sera pas candidat dans Lac-Saint-Jean" [Nicolas Martel will not be a candidate in Lac-Saint-Jean]. Radio-Canada (in Canadian French). Saguenay, Quebec. August 18, 2017. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
- Maltais, Pierre-Alexandre (September 26, 2017). "Marc Maltais représentera le Bloc québécois dans Lac-Saint-Jean". TVA Nouvelles (in Canadian French). Retrieved September 27, 2017.
- "Longtime Conservative MP Denis Lebel quitting politics". Montreal Gazette. June 20, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
- "Greens announce candidate for Lac-Saint-Jean byelection - Green Party of Canada". Green Party of Canada. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
- Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Lac-Saint-Jean, 30 September 2015
- Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates Archived 2015-08-15 at the Wayback Machine