Trudeau announces Sept. 16 byelections in ridings in Quebec, Manitoba

A pair of federal byelections will be held in September to fill vacant seats in Quebec and Manitoba, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Sunday.

Voters will go to the polls in the Elmwood — Transcona riding in Manitoba and the Montreal-area riding of LaSalle—Émard—Verdun on Sept. 16.

The Manitoba riding was held by the New Democratic Party until MP Daniel Blaikie resigned in March to go work for the office of the province’s Premier, Wab Kinew. 

Blaikie had held the federal seat since the 2015 election.

The Quebec riding was held by former Liberal justice minister David Lametti, who resigned in January after being excluded from Trudeau’s cabinet during a shuffle the previous summer.

The byelections will mark the first test for Trudeau’s Liberals since losing a June byelection in Toronto-St. Paul, a riding the Liberals had previously held for decades.

Ian MacIntyre, a former teacher and president of the Manitoba Teachers’ Society, is running for the Liberals in Elmwood — Transcona.

The Conservatives will run electrician Colin Reynolds as their candidate, while Leila Dance, the executive director of the Transcona BIZ, will run for the NDP.

In LaSalle—Émard—Verdun, Montreal city councillor Laura Palestini is the Liberal candidate, while Craig Sauvé, another city councillor, is the NDP candidate.

Louis Ialenti, a business owner, is running for the Conservatives. 

Louis-Philippe Sauvé is the Bloc Québécois candidate, the party announced Sunday. He is a longtime political staffer, and current works in communications for a think tank that looks at issues related to Quebec’s economy.