A by-election was held in the federal riding of Durham in Ontario on March 4, 2024, following the resignation of Conservative MP, and former Leader of the Conservative Party, Erin O'Toole.
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Riding of Durham | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 27.9% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Background
editConstituency
editThe federal riding of Durham covers most of the southeastern part of the Regional Municipality of Durham, on the eastern edge of the Greater Toronto Area. The district includes the entirety of the Township of Scugog and roughly half of the geographic area of the Municipality of Clarington, including the communities of Bowmanville and Courtice. The riding also includes the northern part of the City of Oshawa.
This is the third iteration of a riding under this name, with the current riding coming into use in 2004, when Clarington—Scugog—Uxbridge was renamed. Durham is considered a relatively safe seat for the Conservatives, who have held the seat since 2004.[1]
Representation
editThe riding of Durham was vacated on August 1, 2023, following the March 31 announcement from Conservative MP Erin O'Toole that he would resign his seat, just over a year after he was removed as Leader of the Official Opposition and Conservative leader.[2] O'Toole had held the seat since a 2012 by-election in which he was elected to replace Bev Oda. The by-election was called for March 4, 2024.[1]
Candidates
editGrant Abraham, author of Battle for the Soul of Canada: Firing the Forge, Grant has worked as an international lawyer, farmer and international development director.[citation needed] Abraham will represent the newest formed Canadian federal party, The United Party of Canada. He attempted to run in the 2022 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election, but was deemed ineligible. He is from Calgary.[3]
The NDP candidate is electrician and education co-ordinator Chris Borgia. He ran for the Ontario New Democratic Party in Durham in the 2022 Ontario general election. He is from Pickering.[4]
The People's Party candidate is Patricia Conlin. She is the president of the Global Consulting Group Inc., is an author, international speaker and leadership trainer. She ran for the People's Party in this riding in the 2021 Canadian federal election. She is from Port Perry.[5]
Pranay Gunti is running as an independent. He is an information technology consultant from Bowmanville. He ran for the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board in 2022.[6]
Jamil Jivani, a lawyer and former president of the Canada Strong and Free Network, defeated Theresa Corless to win the Conservative nomination.[7]
The Green Party candidate is Kevin McKenzie, who has served as a trustee on the Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board since 2018. He works in sales and his hometown is Courtice.[8]
Running for the Centrist Party of Canada is Khalid Qureshi. He is a retired engineer from Markham.[9]
Scugog councillor Robert Rock was acclaimed as the Liberal candidate, having previously sought the Conservative nomination.[10] He has served on Scugog council since 2021 and represents Ward 3, Scugog Island.[11]
The Rhino candidate is Adam Smith. He ran for the party in this riding in the 2021 election and as an Independent in the 2022 Mississauga—Lakeshore federal by-election. He is from Bowmanville.[12]
Results
edit| Canadian federal by-election, March 4, 2024: Durham Resignation of Erin O'Toole | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Conservative | Jamil Jivani | 18,610 | 57.44 | 11.04 | ||||
| Liberal | Robert Rock | 7,285 | 22.48 | –7.44 | ||||
| New Democratic | Chris Borgia | 3,363 | 10.38 | –7.14 | ||||
| People's | Patricia Conlin | 1,435 | 4.43 | –1.07 | ||||
| Green | Kevin MacKenzie | 698 | 2.15 | |||||
| Independent | Pranay Gunti | 374 | 1.15 | |||||
| Centrist | Khalid Qureshi | 336 | 1.04 | |||||
| United | Grant Abraham | 238 | 0.73 | |||||
| Rhinoceros | Adam Smith | 62 | 0.19 | –0.03 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 32,401 | |||||||
| Total rejected ballots | ||||||||
| Turnout | 32,401 | 27.87 | –33.32 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 116,259 | |||||||
| Conservative hold | Swing | 9.24 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[13] | ||||||||
2021 result
edit| 2021 Canadian federal election: Durham | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Conservative | Erin O'Toole | 31,423 | 46.39 | 4.28 | $112,775.26 | |||
| Liberal | Jonathan Giancroce | 20,267 | 29.92 | –2.33 | $56,079.34 | |||
| New Democratic | Christopher Cameron | 11,865 | 17.52 | –0.73 | $4,774.16 | |||
| People's | Patricia Conlin | 3,725 | 5.50 | 3.51 | $8,162.85 | |||
| Independent | Sarah Gabrielle Baron | 251 | 0.37 | – | $2,215.46 | |||
| Rhinoceros | Adam Smith | 150 | 0.22 | – | none listed | |||
| Independent | Kurdil-Telt Patch | 49 | 0.07 | – | none listed | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 67,730 | 99.33 | – | $135,835.56 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 455 | 0.67 | 0.01 | |||||
| Turnout | 68,185 | 61.19 | –6.80 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 111,428 | |||||||
| Conservative hold | Swing | 3.30 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[14][15] | ||||||||
References
edit- ^ a b Paas-Lang, Christian (January 28, 2024). "Byelection called for Durham, Ont., seat vacated by Erin O'Toole retirement". CBC. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
- ^ Taylor, Stephanie (March 31, 2023). "Former Conservative leader Erin O'Toole not seeking re-election, leaving federal politics this spring". CBC. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
- ^ "Meet the candidates: Grant Abraham, United Party of Canada". DurhamRegion.com. 2023-02-23. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
- ^ "Meet the candidates: Chris Borgia - NDP". DurhamRegion.com. 2023-02-23. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
- ^ "Meet the candidates: Patricia Conlin - People's Party of Canada". DurhamRegion.com. 2023-02-23. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
- ^ "Meet the candidates: Pranay Gunti - Independent". DurhamRegion.com. 2023-02-23. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
- ^ "Jamil Jivani wins federal Conservative candidacy in GTA riding of Durham". The Globe and Mail. 2023-08-20. Retrieved 2024-01-29.
- ^ "Meet the Candidates: Kevin MacKenzie — Green". DurhamRegion.com. 2023-02-23. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
- ^ "Meet the Candidates: Khalid Qureshi - Centrist Party". DurhamRegion.com. 2023-02-23. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
- ^ Djuric, Mickey (January 4, 2024). "Liberals pick byelection candidate who first tried running for Tories". CBC. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
- ^ "Meet the candidates: Robert Rock - Liberal". DurhamRegion.com. 2023-02-23. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
- ^ "Meet the candidates: Adam Smith - Rhino". DurhamRegion.com. 2023-02-23. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
- ^ "March 4, 2024 By-election Election Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
- ^ "Official Voting Results — Durham". Elections Canada. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
- ^ "Candidate Campaign Returns". Elections Canada. Retrieved 19 July 2022.