Prime Minister Mark Carney called a by-election on Sunday morning to be held on Aug. 31 in three ridings, including Chicoutimi-Le Fjord.
The other ridings involved are Beaches-East York in Ontario and North Vancouver-Capilano in British Columbia.
In Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, voters will head to the polls to choose the successor to Conservative MP Richard Martel, who resigned from his seat earlier this month after being appointed to the Senate.
The Liberal Party wasted no time in announcing earlier this week that Daniel Gobeil, who holds a bachelor’s degree in agronomy and is a dairy farmer, would be running as its candidate.
Gobeil served as president of the Quebec Dairy Farmers Association, as well as president of the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean Dairy Farmers Association.
The Bloc Québécois (BQ) announced Sunday morning that Caroline Dubé will be its candidate in the Saguenay riding.
“She is a local woman who has held leadership positions working with elected officials and citizens in the region,” said Bloc leader Yves-François Blanchet in a press release.
Dubé is no stranger to politics, having previously served as office director for Mario Simard, the MNA for Jonquière—Hébertville—Pays-des-Bleuets, and having run for office in 2022 as a candidate for the Parti Québécois (PQ).
Blanchet also took the opportunity to reiterate that, in his view, Carney should not have called a special election in this district at this time.
“Holding a by-election during the public’s vacation period, at the same time as a Quebec general election, and with voting day falling right in the middle of the back-to-school season demonstrates Mark Carney’s total disregard for democratic debate,” he argued.
Voters in Beaches-East York will be electing a replacement for Liberal MP Nate Erskine-Smith, who has stepped down from the seat he held for more than ten years.
In North Vancouver-Capilano, the seat formerly held by Liberal Minister Jonathan Wilkinson has become vacant following his appointment as Canada’s ambassador to the European Union.
These by-elections are less critical than those held in April, which enabled the Liberals to secure a majority in the House of Commons.
More elections expected in Quebec
While these three by-elections have been called, one riding remains vacant and is still awaiting an election: Saint-Hyacinthe-Bagot-Acton, in the Montérégie region.
It was previously represented by BQ MP Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, who decided last May to leave the caucus in order to join the PQ for the provincial elections.
According to the Elections Canada website, the date the Speaker of the House issued the official order declaring this seat vacant was June 22, 2026.
This is the same date as for the riding of North Vancouver-Capilano. It also precedes the dates on which notices were received for Chicoutimi-Le Fjord and Beaches-East York, which were submitted in July.
At the time of this writing, the Prime Minister’s Office had not yet provided details regarding its decision not to call the by-election for Saint-Hyacinthe-Bagot-Acton at the same time.
The BQ has already identified a potential replacement for its MP, having announced last week the candidacy of Caroline Emond, who previously served as Quebec’s General Delegate to the European Institutions in Brussels and as executive director of the International Dairy Federation.
Several other by-elections could also be held in the coming months, as New Democratic Party (NDP) MP Alexandre Boulerice runs for provincial office, vacating his federal riding of Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie.
The same is true for the Laurier–Sainte-Marie riding, represented by former Liberal Minister Steven Guilbeault, who was set to step down as an MP this summer.
The NDP is already in the running for both of these ridings.
He announced that Pierre Céré, an advocate for the rights of the unemployed, will run for office in Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie, while epidemiologist Nimâ Machouf hopes to be elected in Laurier–Sainte-Marie.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
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