2018 Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes federal by-election

A by-election was held in the federal riding of Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes in Ontario on December 3, 2018 following the sudden death of incumbent Conservative MP Gord Brown on May 2, 2018.

2018 Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes federal by-election

December 3, 2018
Riding of Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes
Turnout	35.89% ( 35.18pp)
LPC Candidate Michael Barrett Mary Jean McFall Party Conservative Liberal Popular vote 16,865 10,443 Percentage 57.83% 35.81% Swing 10.46pp 4.74pp
MP before election Gord Brown Conservative Elected MP Michael Barrett Conservative

The seat was retained for the Conservatives by riding association president Michael Barrett.[1]

Background

Constituency

Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes is a rural riding in Eastern Ontario. It consists of the entirety of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville.

Representation

The riding was created in 1976. The MP since 2004 was Gord Brown who gained the seat from Liberal MP Joe Jordan at the 2004 federal election. Brown was re-ected in 2006, 2008, 2011 and 2015. The seat became vacant when Brown died of a sudden heart attack in his Parliament Hill office in Ottawa.[2]

Campaign

Colin Brown, Brown's nephew, announced his candidacy for the Conservative nomination and was quickly endorsed by Premier of Ontario Doug Ford.[3] In addition, Edwardsburgh/Cardinal town councillor and federal riding association president Michael Barrett,[4] government-relations specialist Stephanie Mitton,[4] and Anne Johnston,[5] a former aide to Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes MPP Steve Clark also ran for the Conservative nomination. Former Canadian Senator and interim Leader of the Opposition in the Ontario Legislature Bob Runciman was rumoured to be interested in seeking the Conservative nomination[6] for the by-election but decided against it after his wife encountered some health issues.[7] Barrett won the nomination at a local party convention at the Brockville Memorial Centre on August 11 in a contest that ran to a fourth ballot.[8]

2015 Liberal candidate Mary Jean McFall – a lawyer, former Brockville city councillor and immediate former Chief of Staff to Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay – won the Liberal nomination for this by-election unopposed.[9][10]

Michelle Taylor was the NDP candidate; Taylor ran for the Ontario NDP in Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes in the 2018 provincial election.[10]

Lorraine Rekmans, the Green candidate for this riding in 2015, ran again for the party.[11]

The Speaker's warrant regarding the vacancy was received on May 3, 2018; under the Parliament of Canada Act the writ for a by-election had to be dropped no later than October 30, 2018, 180 days after the Chief Electoral Officer was officially notified of the vacancy via a warrant issued by the Speaker.[12] On October 28, 2018, the writ was dropped for a by-election for December 3, 2018.[11]

Result

Canadian federal by-election, December 3, 2018: Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes Death of Gord Brown
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Michael Barrett	16,865	57.83	+10.46
	Liberal	Mary Jean McFall	10,443	35.81	-4.74
	New Democratic	Michelle Taylor	883	3.03	-5.34
	Green	Lorraine Rekmans	859	2.95	-0.75
	Independent	John Turmel	111	0.38
Total valid votes/Expense limit			29,161	100.00
Total rejected ballots
Turnout				35.89	-35.18
Eligible voters			81,247
	Conservative hold		Swing		+7.60

2015 result

2015 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Gord Brown	26,738	47.38	-13.43	$118,628.90
	Liberal	Mary Jean McFall	22,888	40.56	+24.66	$98,777.41
	New Democratic	Margaret Andrade	4,722	8.37	-9.95	$5,647.96
	Green	Lorraine A. Rekmans	2,088	3.70	-1.29	$6,935.40
Total valid votes/Expense limit			56,436	100.00		$213,643.31
Total rejected ballots			189	0.33	–
Turnout			56,625	71.08	–
Eligible voters			79,669
	Conservative hold		Swing		-19.04
Source: Elections Canada[13][14]

References

1. "Federal Conservatives cruise to convincing victory in eastern Ontario byelection". nationalpost. Retrieved 2020-11-22.
2. Zajac, Ronald (May 2, 2018). "Shock, sadness at MP Brown's death". The Recorder and Times. PostMedia. Archived from the original on May 3, 2018. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
3. "Ford backs Colin Brown bid". The Recorder and Times. June 12, 2018. Archived from the original on June 13, 2018. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
4. "Tory nomination now a race". The Recorder and Times. June 20, 2018. Archived from the original on June 24, 2018. Retrieved June 23, 2018.
5. "Johnston enters Tory race". The Recorder and Times. June 26, 2018. Archived from the original on July 17, 2018. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
6. Paikin, Steve [@spaikin] (May 23, 2018). "i'm hearing former sen. bob runciman wants to run in the by-election to replace @gordbrown, who unexpectedly died may 2. brown's riding is the same part of ontario runciman represented at queen's park from 1981-2010. he'd be just the 3rd senator to become an MP if he won" (Tweet). Retrieved June 3, 2018 – via Twitter.
7. Paikin, Steve [@spaikin] (June 13, 2018). "Former senator bob runciman has decided to stand down from seeking the nomination to fill the remainder of the late gord brown's term as MP. The nomination is being contested and runciman had little appetite for that. His wife is recovering from surgery. #cdnpoli" (Tweet). Retrieved June 15, 2018 – via Twitter.
8. Mazur, Alexandra (August 13, 2018). "Michael Barrett wins Conservative nomination in riding held by late Gord Brown - Kingston". Global Toronto. Retrieved October 21, 2018.
9. Zajac, Ronald (July 19, 2018). "McFall to seek Grit nomination". The Recorder and Times. Archived from the original on July 20, 2018. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
10. Lowrie, Wayne (October 15, 2018). "McFall to get Liberal nod; Taylor in for NDP". The Recorder and Times. Retrieved October 21, 2018.
11. Snowdon, Frazer (October 29, 2018). "Byelection called to fill vacant seat left by late Conservative MP Gord Brown - Kingston". Global Toronto. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
12. "Vacant Seats in the House of Commons Since the 2015 General Election". Elections Canada. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
13. "Voter Information Service - Who are the candidates in my electoral district?".
14. "Elections Canada On-line - Élection Canada en-ligne". Archived from the original on 2015-08-15.