Quebec has called a byelection, Nov. 9, to elect a successor to Gilles Ouimet in Fabre riding in west end Laval. Ouimet quit politics at the end of August in order to spend more time with his eight-month-old son.
“The writ was issued today,” Elections Quebec spokesman Denis Dion told The Suburban, Oct. 7, the day that election posters popped up around the riding for Quebec Liberal candidate Monique Sauvé.
Eligible voters can cast their ballots at advance polls Nov. 1-2, from 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m. They can also vote at the returning officer’s office starting Oct. 30—a mere 11 days after the ongoing federal election wraps up.
Elections Quebec has created a special web page in English at http://www.monvote.qc.ca/partielles/en/index.asp where you can find information about the byelection. It also provides information about three other byelections elsewhere in Quebec that will be held on the same day.
Sauvé might have jumped the gun slightly by putting up her posters so swiftly.
“The electoral period, in terms of finances and election expenses, began Oct. 8 and will continue until Nov. 9,” explained in an interview, the day after Sauvé’s posters appeared.
As a result, she might not be benefit from election funding for part of the cost of her posters. The Quebec government usually subsidizes the political process by picking up half the cost of certain election expenses.
“Someone who put his or her poster out before Oct. 8, won’t be reimbursed for one day out of the 34-day election period,” Dion explained. “So 1/34th of those expenses might not be deemed election spending for reimbursement.”
Prospective candidates couldn’t officially submit their nomination papers before 2 p.m., Oct. 9. They can do so any time until 2 p.m., Oct. 24.
Sauvé’s swift start might cost campaign some subsidies (Photo © Robert Frank)
