Marci Ien confirmed as Liberal candidate; NDP, CPC and Greens yet to field anybody in the Liberal stronghold
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that the federal byelection for Toronto Centre will be held on Oct. 26.
The announcement comes after former finance minister Bill Morneau resigned on Aug. 17 amid the WE Charity controversy. He and Trudeau came under investigation when the Liberals signed a contract worth over $40 million to administer the Canada Student Services Grant despite having family ties to the organization. Toronto Centre has not had a representative in Parliament since then.
Marci Ien will run as the Liberal candidate, the party confirmed through Twitter. The Liberal party confirmed her candidacy today after Ien announced her intention to run yesterday.
The NDP riding association confirmed on its website that it hasn’t yet fielded a candidate.
Two spokespeople for the other parties’ riding associations replied to the Ryersonian concerning their party’s plans for a candidate. Heather Dougherty, a Conservative Party riding association spokesperson, said that the party would be “confirming their candidate for Toronto Centre today.” Lindsey Lewis of the Green Party said that they plan to have a local candidate selected and in place by next week. Lewis added that Paul Saguil, who had also announced his intention to run for the seat, had been “sidestepped” by the Liberals in favour of a “hand-picked candidate.”
This story has been updated to include comments from the Conservative Party of Canada and the Green Party of Canada riding associations.
