With Quebec’s election campaign underway, Elections Canada is clarifying confusion among voters in Chicoutimi-Le Fjord, where a federal byelection is set for Monday. The agency emphasized in a social media update that the federal byelection on Aug. 31 is distinct from the provincial election scheduled for Oct. 5.
In the Quebec riding, candidates are vying to fill the seat left vacant by former Conservative MP Richard Martel, who has been appointed to the Senate. Martel, a former hockey coach who won Chicoutimi-Le Fjord for the Conservatives in the last federal election by a narrow margin, faces close competition from the Bloc Québécois and Liberal candidates in a region known for its separatist sentiments.
The contenders in the riding include Daniel Gobeil representing the Liberals, Régis Gaudreault for the Conservatives, and Caroline Dubé for the Bloc Québécois. Concurrently, two other byelections are happening on the same day: one in North Vancouver-Capilano, B.C., and the other in Beaches-East York, Ontario.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has yet to call a byelection for Saint-Hyacinthe-Bagot-Acton in Quebec, previously held by former Bloc Québécois MP Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, who resigned earlier this year to join the provincial election with the Parti Québécois.