With the results of all four judicial recounts in this year’s federal election now official as of late last week, the Bloc Québécois has filed a challenge in Superior Court over an Elections Canada error in the riding of Terrebonne, Que., they say needs to be corrected by a vote do-over.

“Given Elections Canada’s admission of error, it seems clear to us that, for democracy to be respected, the election must be annulled and the election in Terrebonne must be rerun,” said erstwhile Bloc Québécois MP Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné in a party press release on May 23. 

Elections Canada deemed on May 10 that the incumbent Sinclair-Desgagné had been defeated by a single vote to the Liberals’ Tatiana Auguste. 

Four days later, the agency that oversees this country’s federal voting confirmed “there was an error on the label that was affixed to the envelope used for returning the special ballot to the local Elections Canada office.” While Elections Canada said they’d heard of “only one case” where an envelope with a marked ballot was returned to the sender due to this error, Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault announced he’s broadening the agency’s review of the special ballot voting system.

Looking at the three other official recount results, two seats have gone to the Conservatives.

The recount results on May 23 confirmed that Terra Nova–The Peninsulas, N.L., goes to Conservative candidate Jonathan Rowe, who has beat the Liberals’ Anthony Germain by 12 votes. Initial results had the riding in Germain’s favour by the same margin.

Another riding that’s in the blue camp is Windsor–Tecumseh–Lakeshore, Ont., where the recount confirmed on May 22 that Liberal incumbent Irek Kusmierczyk has been defeated by Conservative candidate Kathy Borrelli by four votes. Preliminary results had the margin much larger at 77.

And as previously reported, the fourth recount in Milton East–Halton Hills South, Ont., on May 15 found Liberal Kristina Tesser Derksen was the winner, receiving 21 votes over Conservative challenger Parm Gill.

Julian, Vecchio, and Saks to talk Throne Speech on May 29

Three now-former MPs will be taking part in a virtual panel discussion on May 29 to dissect the May 27 Speech from the Throne.

Peter Julian, Ya’ara Saks, and Karen Vecchio will join the Pearson Centre for a lunchtime webinar titled “Between the Lines … Reflections on the Speech from the Throne.”

Julian was first elected as a New Democrat MP for Burnaby–New Westminster, B.C., in 2004, but lost his seat in the April 28 federal election to the Liberals. 

Former Liberal cabinet minister Saks also lost her seat in the recent election, though she’d only been first elected in 2020. 

After 10 years as the Conservative MP for Elgin–Middlesex–London, Ont., Vecchio chose not to run again.

Senators Adler and Pupatello join the CSG

The Canadian Senators Group welcomed not just one but two new members last week as Senators Charles Adler and Sandra Pupatello joined the collective. A former Ontario Liberal cabinet minister, Pupatello was appointed on March 7 by then-prime minister Justin Trudeau, while Adler, a broadcaster and journalist from Manitoba, was appointed last August. With these new members, the CSG’s standing grows to 21, the second-largest group in the Senate.

Ex-Tory MP Ed Fast joins IRPP’s board

Former Conservative MP and cabinet minister Ed Fast has joined the board of the Institute for Research on Public Policy. A lawyer by training, Fast was first elected as MP for Abbotsford, B.C., in 2006, but didn’t reoffer in this year’s election.

During his long career in federal politics, Fast “has developed an extensive network of contacts within the global trade and investment community and within Canada’s community of political and business decision-makers,” reads the IRPP press release. He served as international trade minister during the Stephen Harper era from 2011 to 2015.

Globe’s bureau chief Fife receives Michener-Baxter Award

Globe and Mail bureau chief Robert Fife has been awarded the Michener-Baxter Award.

“We are thrilled to recognize Mr. Fife for his extraordinary life-long contributions to our profession,” said Margo Goodhand, president of the Michener Awards Foundation, in a May 22 press release.

“Fife’s fearless tenacity has delivered countless moments of breakthrough journalism,” said David Walmsley, The Globe’s editor-in-chief, in that newspaper on May 23. Governor General Mary Simon will host a gala evening awards ceremony at Rideau Hall on June 5.

Bruce Campion-Smith gets mugged

The Parliamentary Press Gallery held a mugging for former Toronto Star reporter Bruce Campion-Smith on May 23.

In a break from the traditional lunchtime event where former gallery members who’d been with the PPG for a minimum of three years receive an engraved silver mug, the event was held at 5 p.m. in the Sir John A. Macdonald Building. While attendance was reportedly not as packed as the noontime events, members were still treated to the same delicious refreshments, and great stories of news assignments past.

The Star’s deputy Ottawa bureau chief Alex Ballingall paid tribute to his former colleague—who is also a published author and licenced pilot—calling Campion-Smith a “consummate gentleman journalist” who is “living proof” that journalists don’t have to be nasty.

Ballingall recalled how Campion-Smith covered many elections and was there during the Hill shooting of 2014 during his time as the paper’s Ottawa bureau chief from 2007 to 2018. Ballingall confirmed to Heard on the Hill that he and Campion-Smith had worked together since 2017. “Bruce was our bureau chief at the time, then went on to be the Star’s public editor and editor of our editorial section before he retired last year,” he wrote by email on May 26.

In his own remarks, Campion-Smith thanked a number of people including Allan Thompson (now the head of Carleton University’s journalism school) who was the one who initially encouraged him to come to Ottawa back in 2003, colleague Susan Delacourt for taking him under her wing, and also current bureau chief Tonda MacCharles for inspiring him to improve his craft. He thanked the executive and members of the press gallery, and noted while he misses the newsroom, he will recall his time in Ottawa with “a lot of laughter” and “great camaraderie” as he now watches from the sidelines.

cleadlay@hilltimes.com

The Hill Times