2019 Outremont federal by-election

A by-election was held in the federal riding of Outremont in Quebec on February 25, 2019 following the resignation of incumbent New Democratic MP Tom Mulcair. After 12 years in Parliament, the former Leader of the Official Opposition announced that he would resign his seat.

2019 Outremont federal by-election

February 25, 2019
Riding of Outremont
Turnout	21.57% ( 40.35pp)
NDP Candidate Rachel Bendayan Julia Sánchez Daniel Green Party Liberal New Democratic Green Popular vote 6,086 4,142 1,946 Percentage 40.43% 27.52% 12.93% Swing 6.97pp 16.60pp 9.32pp   BQ CPC Candidate Michel Duchesne Jasmine Louras Party Bloc Québécois Conservative Popular vote 1,674 925 Percentage 11.12% 6.14% Swing 2.71pp 3.39pp
MP before election Tom Mulcair New Democratic Elected MP Rachel Bendayan Liberal

The seat was gained by the Liberal Party of Canada, with Rachel Bendayan winning and becoming the new MP.

Background

Constituency

Outremont in relation to other electoral districts in Montreal and Laval.

Outremont is an urban constituency in Montreal; the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec.

The district includes the borough of Outremont, the eastern part of Côte-des-Neiges in the borough of Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, and the western part of Mile End in the borough of Le Plateau-Mont-Royal, plus bits of upper Downtown Montreal in the borough of Ville-Marie, La Petite-Patrie in the borough of Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie, and Parc Extension in the borough of Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension.

In 2011, Western Montreal was a New Democratic Party stronghold but at the 2015 federal election, the Liberals wiped the NDP out in many seats in the Greater Montreal area.

Representation

Tom Mulcair, the former Leader of the Opposition as Leader of the New Democratic Party had represented the Montreal riding of Outremont since 2007.

Mulcair announced on December 18, 2017, that he would be resigning his seat of Outremont, after the House of Commons rises for its summer break, to accept an appointment at an undisclosed university,[1] later revealed to be the Université de Montréal. Mulcair's resignation took effect on August 3, 2018.[2] Mulcair's resignation came after the rise of internal leadership and ideological differences within the NDP, following the release of the Leap Manifesto. Following these issues, Mulcair announced his intention to resign as party leader once a new leader had been chosen.

Campaign

On July 25, 2018, humanitarian worker Julia Sánchez was effectively declared the NDP's candidate for the Outremont by-election.[3] Mulcair's constituency office manager Graham Carpenter was a rumoured candidate for the nomination,[4] but did not contest it. Carpenter ran unsuccessfully in 2017 to unseat Lionel Perez as the Montreal City Councillor for the borough of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce in Darlington district. Federal NDP leader and former Ontario MPP Jagmeet Singh said in the press in April 2018 that "It's not a 'no'" about running in Outremont,[5] he ultimately did not run. Singh later announced his intention to run in Burnaby South.

Lawyer Rachel Bendayan won the Liberal nomination;[4][6] Bendayan was the party's nominee in Outremont in the 2015 federal election and then worked as chief of staff of the federal Minister of Small Business and Tourism Bardish Chagger. Principal of Concordia University's Simone de Beauvoir Institute Kimberley Manning had declared her intention to seek the Liberal nomination.[7] Former Notre-Dame-de-Grâce MNA and Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough Mayor Russell Copeman[8] and federal Liberal riding president David Marshall[9] were rumoured candidates for the nomination. Former MP Martin Cauchon, who represented Outremont from 1993 to 2004 and sought the Liberal leadership in 2013, declined to seek the nomination.[10]

Lawyer Jasmine Louras was named the Conservative candidate on August 6.[11]

Deputy Leader Daniel Green is the Green Party candidate.[12] Green previously ran in the Saint-Laurent April 3, 2017 by-election.

Laurent Aglat was announced as the candidate of the Rhinoceros Party,[13] but he did not register.

Michel Duchesne was named the candidate of the Bloc Québécois on January 24.[14]

James Seale was named the People's Party candidate on January 27, 2019.[15]

The Speaker's warrant regarding the vacancy was received on August 3, 2018; under the Parliament of Canada Act the writ for a by-election had to be dropped no later than January 30, 2019, 180 days after the Chief Electoral Officer was officially notified of the vacancy via a warrant issued by the Speaker.[16] The by-election was called on January 9, 2019 to be held on February 25, 2019.[17]

Results

Canadian federal by-election, February 25, 2019: Outremont Resignation of Tom Mulcair
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Rachel Bendayan	6,086	40.4	6.94
	New Democratic	Julia Sánchez	4,142	27.5	18.01
	Green	Daniel Green	1,946	12.9	8.89
	Bloc Québécois	Michel Duchesne	1,674	11.1	2.79
	Conservative	Jasmine Louras	925	6.1	2.23
	People's	James Seale	232	1.5	New
	Independent	William Barrett	48	0.3	New
Total valid votes			15,053	100.00
Total rejected ballots			135	0.90
Turnout			15,188	21.57
Eligible voters			70,414
	Liberal gain from New Democratic		Swing
Source: Elections Canada [18]

2015 result

2015 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Tom Mulcair	19,242	44.11	−11.57	$101,332.88
	Liberal	Rachel Bendayan	14,597	33.46	+11.84	$101,506.39
	Conservative	Rodolphe Husny	4,159	9.53	+1.55	$7,828.89
	Bloc Québécois	Roger Galland Barou	3,668	8.41	−3.20	$6,959.30
	Green	Amara Diallo	1,575	3.61	+1.37	–
	Libertarian	Francis Pouliot	216	0.50	–	–
	Communist	Adrien Welsh	162	0.37	–	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			43,619	100.00	–	$204,392.07
Total rejected ballots			426	0.97	–	–
Turnout			44,045	62.42	–	–
Eligible voters			70,559	–	–	–
Source: Elections Canada[19][20]

References

1. Tasker, John Paul (December 18, 2017). "Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair leaving federal politics in June". CBC News. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
2. "Mulcair resigns as an MP, putting Montreal seat up for grabs". CTV News. August 3, 2018. Retrieved August 3, 2018.
3. Blouin, Louis (July 26, 2018). "Julia Sanchez to carry NDP banner in Tom Mulcair's Outremont seat". CBC News. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
4. "Mulcair Démissionnerait Au Printemps. La Course À La Succession Est Ouverte". Les Actualities (in French). December 19, 2017. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
5. Ballingall, Alex (April 3, 2018). "Jagmeet Singh could run for election in 'any' riding — including Quebec". Toronto Star. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
6. "New Liberal Party president says Grits have to fundraise hard to secure win in 2019". The Hill Times. 2018-04-22. Retrieved 2018-05-13.
7. Litwin, Kelsey (February 26, 2018). "Principal of Concordia's Simone de Beauvoir Institute Running For Liberal Party of Canada". The Link. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
8. With Mulcair to retire, will Outremont elect a Jewish Member of Parliament?. B'nai Brith Canada.
9. Cohen, Mike (March 21, 2018). "Bendayan may face Liberal challenge in Outremont". The Suburban. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
10. Wright Allen, Samantha (February 7, 2018). "Itching to regain Mulcair's 'symbolic' Montreal riding, Hill staffer is first in expected crowded Liberal nomination race". The Hill Times. Ottawa. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
11. Louras, Jasmine [@JasmineLouras] (August 6, 2018). "Very honored to be the @CPC_HQ candidate for the #Outremont by-election. I am already at work to represent the interests of my constituents. Let's send a strong message to the Liberals: people must come before the government! #cdnpoli #pccqc" (Tweet). Retrieved August 6, 2018 – via Twitter.
12. "Daniel Green candidate in the Outremont by-election". Green Party of Canada. 9 January 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
13. Corriveau, Sébastien «CoRhino» [@CorRhino] (October 16, 2018). "Laurent Aglat dans Outremont!" (Tweet). Retrieved January 12, 2019 – via Twitter.
14. Foisy, Philippe-Vincent (24 January 2019). "L'artiste Michel Duchesne se présente pour le Bloc québécois dans Outremont". Retrieved 24 January 2019.
15. January 27; 2019. "Media release - The People's Party of Canada Nominates Accomplished Canadian Armed Forces Veteran for Outremont By-Election". People's Party of Canada. Retrieved 2019-01-27.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
16. "Vacant Seats in the House of Commons Since the 2015 General Election". Elections Canada. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
17. Tunney, Catharine (9 January 2019). "Trudeau calls byelections for 3 seats, including B.C. riding sought by NDP's Singh". CBC. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
18. "February 25, 2019 By-elections Election Results". Elections Canada. February 27, 2019. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
19. Elections Canada – Election Results, 22 October 2015
20. Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates