2017 Markham—Thornhill federal by-election

A by-election was held in the federal riding of Markham—Thornhill in Ontario, Canada on 3 April 2017 following the resignation of Liberal MP and Minister of Immigration John McCallum, who was appointed to a diplomatic post. The seat was held by the Liberal candidate Mary Ng on a reduced majority.

2017 Markham—Thornhill federal by-election
April 3, 2017 (2017-04-03)
Riding of Markham—Thornhill
Registered69,838
Turnout27.51% (Decrease 33.63%)
  First party Second party
 
CPC
Candidate Mary Ng Ragavan Paranchothy
Party Liberal Conservative
Popular vote 9,856 7,501
Percentage 51.53% 39.22%
Swing Decrease 4.19% Increase 6.91%
MP before election

John McCallum
Liberal

 Elected MP

Mary Ng
Liberal

The by-election was scheduled to coincide with four others across the country; Calgary Heritage, Calgary Midnapore, Ottawa—Vanier and Saint-Laurent.

Background

Constituency

The riding is located in the York region outside Toronto, centring on Markham and Thornhill. The riding has an Asian Canadian majority.

Representation

The riding of Markham—Thornhill was vacated on February 1, 2017,[1][2] following the appointment of Liberal MP and Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship John McCallum as Ambassador to China.[3] The electoral district was created for the 2015 federal election and has had McCallum as its only MP, however McCallum had represented predecessor ridings from which Markham—Thornhill was created since the 2000 federal election.

Campaign

The by-election, held on April 3, 2017, was announced on February 22, 2017. The Speaker's warrant regarding the vacancy was received on February 6, 2017; under the Parliament of Canada Act the writ for the by-election had to be issued no earlier than February 17, 2017, and no later than August 5, 2017. The election date must be set to be a Monday at least 36 days after the writ is issued.[4]

Candidates

Justin Trudeau's director of appointments and former senior Queen's Park staffer Mary Ng,[5] defeated small business owner Nadeem Quereshi[6] and technology entrepreneur Afraj Gill[6] for the Liberal nomination on March 4, 2017.[7] Ontario cabinet minister and Markham—Unionville MPP Michael Chan, 2015 Markham—Unionville Liberal candidate Bang-Gu Jiang,[8] businesswoman Sofia Sun,[8] and former city councillor Khalid Usman were rumoured to be possible candidates but all of them ultimately endorsed Ng.[5][8] Other speculated candidates for the Liberal nomination who did not run included Markham Regional councillor Jack Heath and Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti.[9]

Liberal nomination contestant and school trustee Juanita Nathan initially ran for her party's nomination but withdrew in protest of the Liberal Party's handling of the nomination process.[10][11]

Radio host and newspaper columnist Gavan Paranchothy defeated CIBC economist Theodore Antony,[6] former senior Queen's Park staffer Lara Coombs,[6] former Don Valley East MP Joe Daniel,[6] and parental rights advocate John Himanen[6] for the Conservative Party nomination on March 8.[12] Paranchothy previously ran for the party in 2011 in Scarborough Southwest.

Small business owner Gregory Hines defeated insurance broker Marco Coletta for the NDP nomination.[6] Hines previously ran for the party in Markham—Stouffville in 2015.

Independent candidate Above Znoneofthe is a resident of Oshawa, formerly named Sheldon Bergson, who legally changed his name in 2015 so that he could register as a "none of the above" protest candidate in the 2015 federal election;[13] although he did not complete the process in time to register for that election, he first ran in the provincial Whitby—Oshawa by-election of 2016. He has since registered as a candidate in several other provincial and federal by-elections.[14]

Results
Canadian federal by-election, April 3, 2017: Markham—Thornhill
Resignation of John McCallum
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalMary Ng9,85651.53−4.19
ConservativeRagavan Paranchothy7,50139.22+6.91
New DemocraticGregory Hines6713.51−7.21
Progressive CanadianDorian Baxter5662.96
GreenCaryn Bergmann4262.23+0.98
LibertarianBrendan Thomas Reilly1180.62
IndependentAbove Znoneofthe770.40
Total valid votes/Expense limit 19,125 100.0   –  
Total rejected ballots -
Turnout 27.51
Eligible voters 69,838
Liberal hold Swing −5.55

2015 results
2015 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
LiberalJohn McCallum23,87855.72+18.61$78,406.90
ConservativeJobson Easow13,84932.31-4.08$128,323.59
New DemocraticSenthi Chelliah4,59510.72-12.67$48,598.52
GreenJoshua Russell5351.25-1.37–
Total valid votes/Expense limit 42,857100.00 $203,953.81
Total rejected ballots 2400.56–
Turnout 43,09761.14–
Eligible voters 70,484
Liberal notional hold Swing +11.34
Source: Elections Canada[15][16]

References
  1. "Stéphane Dion accepts role as ambassador to EU and Germany, as he and John McCallum depart House". CBC News. January 31, 2017. Archived from the original on April 4, 2017. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
  2. "The Honourable John McCallum". Parliament of Canada. Archived from the original on March 4, 2017. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
  3. Fife, Robert (January 10, 2017). "Trudeau cabinet shuffle: Freeland promoted, Dion out". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on January 10, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  4. "Elections Canada Online | News Releases and Media Advisories". Elections Canada. Archived from the original on May 1, 2017. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
  5. "Trudeau aide Mary Ng, vying to run in by-election, highlights her relationship with China". The Globe and Mail. February 15, 2017. Archived from the original on March 14, 2017. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
  6. "Elections Canada Nominations Database". Elections Canada. Archived from the original on September 23, 2017. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
  7. "Markham-Thornhill Liberal nominees push for support at meeting; in hands of voters". Markham Economist and Sun. March 4, 2017. Archived from the original on August 25, 2017. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
  8. Rana, Abbas (February 6, 2017). "Ontario Trade minister Chan won't run for McCallum's seat, Markham mayor might". The Hill Times. Archived from the original on February 7, 2017. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
  9. "Markham Mayor Scarpitti won't completely rule out a run at federal politics". Markham Economist and Sun. January 31, 2017. Archived from the original on August 25, 2017. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
  10. Rana, Abbas (February 27, 2017). "Liberal candidates revolt in Markham-Thornhill as retroactive deadline seen as favouring top Trudeau aide Ng". The Hill Times. Archived from the original on March 26, 2017. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
  11. "Candidate withdraws from Liberal nomination for Ontario byelection race". National Newswatch. March 2, 2017. Archived from the original on March 3, 2017. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
  12. "Markham Thornhill CPC Nomination 2017". Elections Canada. Archived from the original on April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 5, 2017.
  13. "Voters can pick 'none of the above' thanks to this Whitby-Oshawa byelection candidate" Archived 2021-11-18 at the Wayback Machine. CBC News Toronto, January 29, 2016.
  14. "Meet Above Znoneofthe, the fringe candidate who keeps running in Ontario by-elections". National Post, November 21, 2016.
  15. "Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Markham—Thornhill, 30 September 2015". Archived from the original on May 22, 2018. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
  16. Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
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