Voters in Ontario and Quebec, Canada are voting in byelections Monday that could give Prime Minister Mark Carney a liberal majority. File Photo by Eric Reid/EPA-EFE
April 13 (UPI) — Voters in Ontario and Quebec, Canada, are voting in byelections on Monday that could give Prime Minister Mark Carney a liberal majority.
The ballot boxes are open in two ridings, or electoral districts, in Ontario as well as one in Quebec. The Liberal Party of Canada needs to win one of three elections to establish majority control of the government.
Liberal hold 171 of 343 seats in the House of Commons.
Both Ontario districts, Scarborough Southwest and University-Rosedale, are in the Toronto area. They were previously held by liberal members of Parliament.
The district in Quebec, Terrebonne, is in the Montreal area. A liberal candidate won in that district by one vote last year. Canada’s high court nullified the result of that election in February, citing a clerical error.
The Liberals have bolstered their control of the House with four members of the Conservative Party of Canada defecting. A member of the New Democratic Party also defected to join the Liberals.
The most recent defection occurred last week when Marilyn Gladu left the Conservative Party. Gladu represents the Sarnia-Lambton-Bkejwanong riding in Ontario.
House leader Steven MacKinnon, a liberal parliament member, said that he plans to “continue that impulse of working across party lines” if his party captures a majority.
