By-elections 1999 – Official Voting Results

The Five 1999 By-elections

Introduction

This section of the Chief Electoral Officer's report on the federal by-elections held in 1999 describes the circumstances for calling the by-elections, the electoral districts involved, the candidates of the registered political parties and independent candidates taking part, the numbers of registered electors and polling stations, and the results.

The following section presents further information and summary data on the official voting results, in the form of tables. The concluding section gives the poll-by-poll results of each by-election.

Information on the administration of the 1999 by-elections appears in two reports:

• Report of the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada Following the Windsor–St. Clair By-Election (May 1999), and
• the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada's report on the November 1999 by-elections (January 2000).

Both reports are available on the Elections Canada Web site (http://www.elections.ca).

Calling of the by-elections

On December 9, 1998, Shaughnessy Cohen, the Liberal Member of Parliament for Windsor–St. Clair, died suddenly. Following her death, the seat distribution in the House of Commons was: Liberal Party of Canada – 155 seats; Reform Party of Canada – 59 seats; Bloc Québécois – 45 seats; New Democratic Party – 21 seats; Progressive Conservative Party of Canada – 19 seats; Independent – 1 seat; and vacant – 1 seat. The writ ordering the holding of a by-election in the electoral district of Windsor–St. Clair was issued on March 7, 1999, and election day was set for Monday, April 12, 1999.

On May 31, 1999, Chris Axworthy, New Democratic Party MP for Saskatoon–Rosetown–Biggar, resigned his seat in the House of Commons.

On August 3, 1999, the Honourable Sergio Marchi, Liberal MP for York West, resigned his seat in the House of Commons.

On August 10, 1999, the Honourable Sheila Finestone, Liberal MP for Mount Royal, resigned her seat in the House of Commons.

On September 10, 1999, the Honourable Marcel Massé, Liberal MP for Hull–Aylmer, resigned his seat in the House of Commons.

The writs ordering by-elections to be held in the four electoral districts were issued on October 10, 1999, and election day was set for Monday, November 15, 1999. At the time the writs were issued, the seat distribution in the House of Commons was: Liberal Party of Canada – 154 seats; Reform Party of Canada – 58 seats; Bloc Québécois – 44 seats; New Democratic Party – 19 seats; Progressive Conservative Party of Canada – 19 seats; Independent – 3 seats; and vacant – 4 seats.

The five electoral districts

The boundaries of the five electoral districts in which the 1999 by-elections were held were the same as those in effect during the 1997 federal general election. They coincided with the boundaries defined in the 1996 Representation Order issued pursuant to the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act.

The Five 1999 By-Elections

Hull–Aylmer, Quebec Population based on the 1996 census: 97 240

Mount Royal, Quebec Population based on the 1996 census: 95 616

Saskatoon–Rosetown–Biggar, Saskatchewan Population based on the 1996 census: 72 921

Windsor–St. Clair, Ontario Population based on the 1996 census: 106 108

York West, Ontario Population based on the 1996 census: 104 957

Registered political parties and nomination of candidates

Of the 10 registered federal political parties, eight chose to nominate candidates in the Hull–Aylmer by-election: the Bloc Québécois, the Christian Heritage Party of Canada, The Green Party of Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada, the Natural Law Party of Canada, the New Democratic Party, the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, and the Reform Party of Canada. There was also an independent candidate.

In the Mount Royal by-election, four registered federal political parties nominated candidates: the Bloc Québécois, the Liberal Party of Canada, the New Democratic Party, and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.

In Windsor–St. Clair, four registered parties nominated candidates: the Liberal Party of Canada, the New Democratic Party, the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, and the Reform Party of Canada. There was also one candidate with no political affiliation.

In York West, six registered parties nominated candidates: the Canadian Action Party, The Green Party of Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada, the New Democratic Party, the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, and the Reform Party of Canada.

In Saskatoon–Rosetown–Biggar, five registered parties nominated candidates: The Green Party of Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada, the New Democratic Party, the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, and the Reform Party of Canada. There was also one candidate with no political affiliation.

From the date the returning officer published her proclamation, the candidates in the Windsor–St. Clair by-election had until 2:00 p.m. on March 22, 1999, to file their official nomination papers. For the Hull–Aylmer, Mount Royal, Saskatoon–Rosetown–Biggar and York West by-elections, the deadline for filing was 2:00 p.m. on October 25, 1999.

A total of nine candidates registered to run for office in Hull–Aylmer, four in Mount Royal, six in Saskatoon–Rosetown–Biggar, five in Windsor–St. Clair and six in York West. None of the candidates withdrew during the period in which a withdrawal of candidacy was permitted.

Registration of electors

The preliminary lists of electors for the five by-elections were produced from information in the National Register of Electors. For Windsor–St. Clair, the revision period extended from March 10 to April 6, 1999, and for the other four by-elections, from October 13 to November 9, 1999.

The final lists of electors (that is, the lists prepared after election day) contained the following number of names for the five electoral districts:

These lists included the names of electors who registered on election day. The number of electors who registered on election day are:

Polling stations

Under the Canada Elections Act, voting takes place in one or more polling stations established in each polling division. The polls were open from 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., local time, on election day in Hull–Aylmer, Mount Royal, Windsor–St. Clair and York West, and from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., local time, in Saskatoon–Rosetown–Biggar.

The returning officers set up 191 ordinary polling stations in Hull–Aylmer, of which 188 were stationary; in Mount Royal, 173 ordinary polling stations (including 172 stationary); in Saskatoon–Rosetown–Biggar, 138 ordinary polling stations (including 136 stationary); in Windsor–St. Clair, 202 ordinary polling stations (including 199 stationary); and in York West, 145 ordinary polling stations (including 144 stationary).

The Act also provides for the establishment of mobile polling stations to collect the votes of elderly, disabled or sick persons confined to health-care facilities. These polling stations, set up in polling divisions with more than two health-care institutions, travel from institution to institution, and remain open at each place only as long as necessary to enable the electors present to vote. In the 1999 by-elections, ten mobile polling stations collected the ballots of electors: three in Hull–Aylmer, one in Mount Royal, two in Saskatoon–Rosetown–Biggar, three in Windsor–St. Clair and one in York West.

The returning officers in each electoral district are required to set up advance polling stations to collect the votes of electors who are unable to go to their ordinary polling stations on election day. In Windsor–St. Clair, nine advance polling stations were open, from noon to 8:00 p.m., on April 2, 3 and 5, 1999. Hull–Aylmer and Mount Royal each had 11 advance polling stations, and Saskatoon–Rosetown–Biggar and York West each had seven; all were open from noon to 8:00 p.m., on November 5, 6 and 8, 1999.

Polling results

For the five electoral districts, the number of electors casting their ballots and the participation rates were:

Of these 96 497 electors, 89 067 voted on election day at their ordinary polling stations.

Candidates elected

In the Windsor–St. Clair by-election on April 12, the Liberal candidate, Rick Limoges, received the largest number of votes and was elected Member of Parliament. Three Liberal candidates were elected in the November 15 by-elections: Marcel Proulx in Hull–Aylmer, Irwin Cotler in Mount Royal, and Judy Sgro in York West. In Saskatoon–Rosetown–Biggar, the New Democratic Party candidate, Dennis Gruending, was elected.

Following the by-elections of November 15, 1999, the distribution of seats in the House of Commons was:

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