The Conservative Party of Canada has been around in its current form for nearly a decade and, in all that time, its one and only leader, Stephen Harper, has never awoken the morning after a day of elections with fewer seats in the House of Commons than he had the day before. Until today.
On Monday, in the federal riding of Labrador, the Conservative incumbent, Peter Penashue — who had resigned his seat and his position at Harper’s cabinet table in March because of serious allegations of multiple violations of election finance law when he won the seat in 2011 — lost to Liberal Yvonne Jones. Continue reading Trudeau wins while the Conservatives are sore losers in Labrador
Tomorrow, voters in the riding of Labrador will go the polls. According to three polls of voters there, the Liberal candidate, Yvonne Jones appears to be the prohibitive favourite.
If she wins, it will be the first time the federal Liberal caucus will have grown as the result of an electoral event* in nearly a decade.
The federal riding of Labrador is vacant right now after Conservative incumbent Peter Penashue resigned amid allegations that he violated federal election finance laws during the general election of 2011. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has now called the date for the by-election. It will be held on May 13. Continue reading As Labrador by-election gets going, Liberals start with big lead
WHEREAS the NDP has consistently called on the Government of Canada to live up to its responsibilities towards all First Nations, Métis, and Inuit, and to make treaties, as well as the settlement and implementation of comprehensive land claims a priority; Continue reading NDP Convention: E-1 Emergency resolution on NunatuKavut Community
He might just be the best leader the Liberal Party of Canada never had and, for just a few more days, Bob Rae is the interim leader of the Big Red Machine. Tonight, we chat about the byelection in Labrador and the soon-to-be wrapped up leadership race.
Peter Penashue, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada is sworn in as Member of Parliament for Labrador at Parliament Hill in Ottawa May 26, 2011. He would resign his seat in nearly two years later amid accusations he violated federal election finance laws. Penashue will run in a by-election called Sunday by Prime Minister Stephen Harper for May 13. (ANDRE FORGET/QMI AGENCY)
Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced this morning that a by-election will be held in the federal riding of Labrador on May 13. The riding became vacant after Conservative MP Peter Penashue, then a member of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s cabinet, admitted that his campaign violated federal election finance laws in the May 2011 general election. Penashue, in that general election, won by a handful of votes and it was quite reasonable to assume that the extra illegal spending his campaign did in that general election could have made the difference.
Elections Canada is still investigating the over-spending and its investigation will be unaffected by the by-election. Moreover, Penashue is not avoiding any sanction he may face from Elections Canada by resigning and running again. That peril will still exist for Penashue regardless of the by-election and its outcome.
This by-election really won’t change a thing in the House of Commons. No matter who wins, the Conservatives will still have a majority; the NDP will still be the Official Opposition; and the Liberals will still be the third party. And yet, for a by-election that means so little in the big scheme of things (though obviously a big deal for the good people of the riding), there is a surprising amount of political capital at stake. For that reason, expect all three of those parties to be campaigning heavily to win. Some notes on what’s at stake …
