Trudeau calls five byelections for April 3, including former PM Harper’s old riding
OTTAWA — Byelections will be held on April 3 to fill five vacant federal ridings, but the contests are unlikely to change the partisan math in the House of Commons.
Of the five byelections called by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, two are among the safest Conservative seats in the country and are likely to remain so: Calgary Heritage, former prime minister Stephen Harper’s old stomping ground, and Calgary Midnapore, formerly held by one-time Harper minister Jason Kenney, who is now running for the leadership of Alberta’s Progressive Conservative party.
The other three — the Montreal riding of Saint-Laurent, the Toronto-area riding of Markham-Thornill and Ottawa-Vanier — are Liberal strongholds and likely to stay that way.
Saint-Laurent and Markham-Thornhill were left vacant last month after veteran Liberal ministers Stephane Dion and John McCallum were named to plum diplomatic posts as part of a cabinet shuffle.