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Trudeau calls May 6 byelection for Nanaimo-Ladysmith riding

Mar 24, 2019 | 8:54 AM

Nanaimo voters are headed back to the polls for the third time in less than seven months.

On Sunday morning, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a May 6 byelection to fill the vacant seat in the Nanaimo-Ladysmith riding.

The riding opened up when former New Democrat member of Parliament Sheila Malcolmson resigned in January to run successfully for the provincial New Democrats.

That byelection came shortly after Nanaimo residents voted in October’s civic election.

So far all of the major parties have chosen a candidate for the federal byelection, with the exception of the NDP.

The Conservative Party of Canada selected its candidate, 32-year-old financial manager John Hirst, last November and Jennifer Clarke, who lost the nomination to Hirst, was named in January to represent the new People’s Party of Canada, led by Quebec MP Maxime Bernier.

The Green Party of Canada will be represented by familiar local face Paul Manly, while Port of Nanaimo chair Michelle Corfield was nominated last weekend by the Liberal Party of Canada.

The local NDP riding association previously told NanaimoNewsNOW it would likely be May before a candidate was selected, however that timeline will now change.

Prominent Indigenous leader Bob Chamberlin and former Nanaimo Pride Society president Lauren Semple have declared their intention to compete for the nomination.

 

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