User:Political junky/sandbox

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[edit] 2006 by-election

Lawn signs for all the major candidates decorate an intersection during the by-election

Long-time MP Joe Fontana resigned from the seat in 2006 in order to run in the London municipal election as a candidate for mayor, requiring a by-election to be held.

Speculation has suggested that two of the candidates in the Liberal leadership might seek the seat, and, particularly if the by-election had been held after the leadership election and one of them had been victorious. The candidates in question, Gerard Kennedy and Bob Rae, are both from Ontario and neither have a seat in the House of Commons. The Liberals suggested that, in order to be fair, the prime minister should not call the election until after their leadership race had completed. [1] However, the election was called on October 22, 2006 with polling day falling the very week of the Liberal convention, on November 27. [2]

The election result presents a minor breakthrough for the Green Party, tripling its previous showing in the general election and placing slightly ahead of the candidate of the governing Conservative party. The vote for party leader Elizabeth May was over five times the 4.5% national popular vote in the preceding federal election.