Voters will be participating in an eighth federal byelection set to occur between August 31 and mid-April following the announcement of Ontario Conservative MP Larry Brock’s impending departure. Brock, who has been serving as the representative for the Brantford–Brant South riding since his election in 2021, revealed his decision to leave the House of Commons in order to assume a position at the Crown attorney’s office in Brantford, Ontario.
This development marks the third resignation of a Conservative MP this summer. Saskatchewan’s Cathay Wagantall and Quebec’s Richard Martel have also made announcements regarding their exits. Wagantall is set to step down by the end of the month, while Martel has been appointed to the Senate.
Three ridings, Chicoutimi–Le Fjord, North Vancouver–Capilano, and Beaches–East York, are slated to hold byelections at the end of this month. The latter two elections are being held to fill the vacancies left by former Liberal cabinet ministers Jonathan Wilkinson and Nate Erskine-Smith. Wilkinson resigned to accept the position of Canada’s ambassador to the European Union in Brussels, while Erskine-Smith ventured into Ontario politics unsuccessfully.
Bloc Québécois MP Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay previously resigned to run for the Parti Québécois in the upcoming Quebec election on October 5. The Saint-Hyacinthe–Bagot–Acton riding, previously held by Savard-Tremblay, remains the sole vacant federal seat without a scheduled byelection.
The process of calling a byelection is initiated within 11 to 180 days following a vacancy in a seat, with the official campaigns lasting between 36 to 50 days. Consequently, the byelection must be held within 47 days to seven months of the seat becoming vacant, pending the formal resignation of the MP.
Notably, Independent and former NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice is running for Québec solidaire in the provincial election while still retaining his Montreal seat. Meanwhile, former Liberal cabinet minister Steven Guilbeault, who announced his resignation on May 27, is set to vacate his Montreal seat on August 28.
Larry Brock has indicated that he will resign on September 18, coinciding with the return of the House of Commons from its summer recess on September 21.