2016 Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner federal by-election
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Riding of Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Registered | 76,911 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 44.54% ( 21.57%) | |||||||||||||||||||||
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A by-election was held in the federal riding of Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner in Alberta, Canada, on 24 October 2016 following the death of Conservative MP Jim Hillyer.[1] The safe seat was held by the Conservative candidate Glen Motz on a reduced majority.[2]
The by-election was the first to be held in the 42nd Canadian Parliament.
Background
[edit]Constituency
[edit]The constituency covers the City of Medicine Hat and surrounding areas in the southeast corner and southern U.S. border region of Alberta, including Cypress County, the County of Forty Mile No. 8, Warner No. 5 and the Town of Warner, and Cardston County and the Town of Cardston.
Representation
[edit]The riding has been held by centre-right parties since Bert Hargrave defeated Liberal incumbent Bud Olson, himself a former Social Credit MP, in 1972.[1] This was the first by-election in the 108-year history of the Medicine Hat constituency. The seat was vacated on March 23, 2016, when Conservative Party of Canada MP Jim Hillyer died in his office following a heart attack.[3]
Campaign
[edit]The Speaker's warrant regarding the vacancy was received on March 24, 2016.
Candidates
[edit]Retired Medicine Hat Police inspector Glen Motz[1] defeated businessman Brian Benoit, former Cardston-Taber-Warner and Calgary-Glenmore MLA Paul Hinman, lawyer Michael W. Jones, and party worker Joe Schow for the Conservative nomination, which was held in late June.[4] Cypress-Medicine Hat MLA Drew Barnes, former Medicine Hat MLA Blake Pedersen, and Dan Hein, Hillyer's closest competitor for the nomination in 2015, all declined to run for the Conservative nomination despite speculation to the contrary.[5]
Well-known Medicine Hat businessman Stan Sakamoto was the Liberal candidate.[1]
The Libertarian Party of Canada nominated Sheldon Johnston as its candidate.[6] The Libertarians and the Rhinoceros Party nominated candidates for the first time in Medicine Hat.
Results
[edit]| Canadian federal by-election, October 24, 2016: Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner Death of Jim Hillyer | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Conservative | Glen Motz | 23,932 | 69.85 | +1.05 | ||||
| Liberal | Stan Sakamoto | 8,778 | 25.62 | +7.68 | ||||
| Christian Heritage | Rod Taylor | 702 | 2.05 | |||||
| New Democratic | Beverly Ann Waege | 353 | 1.03 | −8.64 | ||||
| Libertarian | Sheldon Johnston | 284 | 0.83 | |||||
| Rhinoceros | Kayne Cooper | 211 | 0.62 | |||||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 34,260 | 100.00 | – | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | - | |||||||
| Turnout | 44.54 | |||||||
| Eligible voters | 76,911 | |||||||
| Conservative hold | Swing | −3.32 | ||||||
| Sources: Elections Canada[7] | ||||||||
2015 result
[edit]| 2015 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Conservative | Jim Hillyer | 34,849 | 68.80 | +0.10 | $54,953.54 | |||
| Liberal | Glen Allan | 9,085 | 17.94 | +6.78 | $15,408.61 | |||
| New Democratic | Erin Weir | 4,897 | 9.67 | -5.27 | $9,291.81 | |||
| Green | Brent Smith | 1,319 | 2.60 | -1.84 | $741.29 | |||
| Independent | John Clayton Turner | 500 | 0.99 | $4,050.57 | ||||
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | 50,650 | 100.00 | $237,057.33 | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 118 | 0.23 | – | |||||
| Turnout | 50,768 | 66.11 | – | |||||
| Eligible voters | 76,789 | |||||||
| Conservative hold | Swing | -3.34 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[8][9] | ||||||||
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d "Byelection date set for Alberta following death of Conservative MP". Toronto Star. September 18, 2016. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
- ^ "Justin Trudeau sets byelection for Ottawa-Vanier for April 3". Global News. February 19, 2017. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
- ^ Levitz, Stephanie (March 23, 2016). "Alberta Conservative MP Jim Hillyer dead at age 41". Toronto Star. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
- ^ Gallant, Collin (May 20, 2016). "Tories will choose Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner byelection candidate in late June". Prairie Post. Archived from the original on August 4, 2016. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
- ^ Kuhl, Nick (April 13, 2016). "Interest strong to become Hat-Cardston-Warner MP". Lethbridge Herald. Archived from the original on April 16, 2016. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
- ^ Cournoyer, Dave (August 17, 2016). "40 days until the Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner by-election needs to be called". Daveberta.ca. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
- ^ "List of candidates Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner (Alberta)".
- ^ "October 19, 2015 Election Results — Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner (Validated results)". Elections Canada. October 22, 2015. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
- ^ Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine