2019 Burnaby South federal by-election

A by-election was held in the federal riding of Burnaby South on February 25, 2019 following the resignation of incumbent New Democratic MP Kennedy Stewart on September 14, 2018.

February 25, 2019
Riding of Burnaby South
Turnout	30.10% ( 30.68pp)
Candidate Jagmeet Singh Richard T. Lee Party New Democratic Liberal Popular vote 8,848 5,919 Percentage 38.90% 26.02% Swing 3.83pp 7.86pp   CPC PPC Candidate Jay Shin Laura-Lynn Thompson Party Conservative People's Popular vote 5,147 2,422 Percentage 22.63% 10.65% Swing 4.48pp New party
MP before election Kennedy Stewart New Democratic Elected MP Jagmeet Singh New Democratic

Jagmeet Singh, the federal leader of the NDP since October 1, 2017, won the by-election[1] after having served as his party's leader without a seat in the House of Commons for over a year.

Background

Riding profile

The riding of Burnaby South was created by the 2012 federal electoral boundaries redistribution and was first contested in the 2015 federal election.

Demographics

According to the 2016 Canadian Census, Chinese Canadians make up a plurality of the riding's population, while a majority of the riding's population speaks a mother tongue that is neither English nor French.[2]

Resignation of Kennedy Stewart

Kennedy Stewart resigned from the House of Commons on September 14, 2018 to pursue a run for Mayor of Vancouver as an independent.

On May 10, incumbent MP Kennedy Stewart publicly revealed that he was considering a run for mayor of Vancouver in the city's 2018 elections.[3] Stewart formally confirmed his candidacy for Vancouver mayor on May 14, announcing that he would resign his seat in Parliament before the election.[4]

Candidate nominations

People's

The People's Party of Canada announced Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson as their party's candidate for the by-election on January 8, 2019.[5] She had previously been a host on the Canadian edition of The 700 Club and had earlier run to be a trustee on the Burnaby Board of Education in November of the previous year.[6]

Independent candidacies

Valentine Wu, who was the BC Greens candidate in the 2017 provincial election for the riding of Burnaby-Edmonds, announced on January 17, 2019 that he would contest the by-election.[7]

Non-contesting parties

The Green Party had previously promised not to run a candidate against Jagmeet Singh if he were to run in a by-election.[8] Green Party Leader Elizabeth May reiterated the party's plans to give Singh "leader's courtesy" on August 16 after he announced his candidacy.[9]

Although the Libertarian Party had announced on its blog the selection of Rex Brocki as their candidate,[10] he did not register and ultimately did not appear on the ballot.

Results

Canadian federal by-election, February 25, 2019: Burnaby South Resignation of Kennedy Stewart
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Jagmeet Singh	8,848	38.90	3.83
	Liberal	Richard T. Lee	5,919	26.02	7.86
	Conservative	Jay Shin	5,147	22.63	4.48
	People's	Laura-Lynn Thompson	2,422	10.65	New
	Independent	Terry Grimwood	242	1.06	New
	Independent	Valentine Wu	168	0.74	New
Total valid votes/Expense limit			22,746	99.17
Total rejected ballots			190	0.83	+0.23
Turnout			22,936	30.10	-30.68
Eligible voters			76,204
	New Democratic hold		Swing		+5.84
Source: Elections Canada[11]

See also

• By-elections to the 42nd Canadian Parliament

References

1. "Official Voting Results". www.elections.ca. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
2. "Census Profile, 2016 Census - Burnaby South [Federal electoral district], British Columbia and British Columbia [Province]". Statistics Canada. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
3. McElroy, Justin (May 7, 2018). "NDP MP Kennedy Stewart mulls run for mayor of Vancouver". CBC News. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
4. Laanela, Mike (May 10, 2018). "Kennedy Stewart confirms he will run for mayor of Vancouver as independent". CBC News. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
5. Cullen, Catherine; Tunney, Catharine (Jan 9, 2019). "Bernier's party taps anti-'trans agenda' activist as candidate in Burnaby-South". CBC News. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
6. "Burnaby (School District) Election Results". bc.localelections.ca. Retrieved 2020-05-29.
7. Campbell, Chris. "Ex-B.C. Green candidate says he's running as a Burnaby South independent". Burnaby Now. Retrieved 2020-05-27.
8. Grenier, Éric (July 12, 2018). "NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh won't have a free pass if he runs in a byelection". CBC News. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
9. "Greens won't run against NDP's Jagmeet Singh in Burnaby South byelection, Elizabeth May says". thestar.com. 2018-08-16. Retrieved 2020-05-14.
10. "Upcoming By-Elections **UPDATE**". Libertarian Party of Canada. Retrieved 2020-05-27.
11. "February 25, 2019 By-elections Election Results". Elections Canada. February 27, 2019. Retrieved March 17, 2019.