NDP fumes as Trudeau calls byelection in Ontario, but not B.C.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called a byelection for the Ontario riding of Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, as tensions increase in the New Democrat camp over when a byelection will be called for B.C.’s Burnaby South.

Voters in the Ontario riding will head to the polls on Dec. 3 to elect a new member of Parliament. The riding was previously held by the late Gord Brown, a Conservative MP who died suddenly in May after suffering a heart attack in his Parliament Hill office.

According to Elections Canada, the government had until Oct. 30 to announce a byelection for the Ontario riding.

But currently there are four vacant seats, including Burnaby South, the British Columbia riding where NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has said he will run as soon as a byelection is called.

New Democrat MP Peter Julian says Trudeau’s decision not to call the other byelections on Sunday is “petty and manipulative,” and he accuses the prime minister of playing around with elections.

The government must call a byelection within six months after a seat is vacated, and it has until March 18 at the latest to call one for Burnaby South.

A government spokesperson said the deadline for the byelection called today is the end of this month, and the others were only vacated more recently.