Voters in a southwestern Ontario riding, now known as Brantford–Brant South, are gearing up for an eighth federal byelection scheduled between Aug. 31 and mid-April. Conservative MP Larry Brock, elected in 2021, is set to leave his position in the House of Commons to join the Crown attorney’s office in Brantford, Ont.
Brock’s departure marks the third resignation of a Conservative MP this summer. Saskatchewan MP Cathay Wagantall and Quebec’s Richard Martel have also announced their resignations, with Wagantall leaving at the end of the month and Martel being appointed to the Senate.
In addition to Martel’s riding of Chicoutimi–Le Fjord, byelections will be held at the end of the month in North Vancouver–Capilano and Beaches–East York in Toronto. These races aim to fill the seats left vacant by former Liberal cabinet ministers Jonathan Wilkinson and Nate Erskine-Smith. Wilkinson left to become Canada’s ambassador to the European Union in Brussels, while Erskine-Smith made an unsuccessful attempt at Ontario politics.
Bloc Québécois MP Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay recently resigned to run for the Parti Québécois in the upcoming Quebec election on Oct. 5. The Saint-Hyacinthe–Bagot–Acton seat, previously held by Savard-Tremblay, remains the only federal seat without a scheduled byelection.
According to regulations, a byelection must be called between 11 and 180 days after a seat becomes vacant, with the formal campaign period lasting between 36 and 50 days. This dictates that a byelection vote should occur within 47 days to seven months of a seat being vacated, pending the formal resignation of the MP.
While Independent and former NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice is running for Québec solidaire in the provincial election, he has yet to vacate his Montreal seat. Similarly, former Liberal cabinet minister Steven Guilbeault, who announced his resignation on May 27, is expected to step down as a Montreal MP on Aug. 28.
Brock has confirmed his resignation date as Sept. 18, just before the House of Commons is slated to reconvene from its summer recess on Sept. 21.