Three vacant federal seats will be filled on Monday, Nov. 26 after Prime Minister Stephen Harper called for byelections in Calgary Centre, Durham (Ont.) and Victoria.
Watch CPAC later this month for full Campaign Politics profiles from all three ridings.
CALGARY CENTRE * DURHAM * VICTORIA
Conservative Lee Richardson retired to take a position with Alberta Premier Alison Redford.
Former journalist-turned-consultant and commentator Joan Crockatt won the Conservative nomination. Former musician and international development worker Dan Meades is the NDP candidate. Lawyer and former party executive Harvey Locke is running for the Liberals. Author and journalist Chris Turner is the Green candidate.
Other registered candidates: Tony Prashad (Libertarian), a transit worker and urban farming advocate, and architect Antoni Grochowski (independent).
The riding has chosen Progressive Conservative, Reform, Canadian Alliance, and Conservative candidates since being created in 1968.
Past MPs include Mulroney-era cabinet minister Harvie Andre and former prime minister Joe Clark, who represented Calgary Centre during his second stint as Progressive Conservative leader.
From the 2011 Census:
Population: 127, 891
Median Age: 35.8
About 39 per cent of residents over 15 are single. One in eight people speak a language other than English or French at home.
DURHAM
Former international cooperation minister Bev Oda retired over the summer after eight years as a Conservative MP.
Erin O'Toole, a lawyer and former military pilot, has taken Oda's place on the Conservative slate. Larry O'Connor is running for the NDP. Grant Humes, former COO of the Toronto Board of Trade, is running again for the Liberals. The Greens have Virginia Ervin, who ran in the riding in 2004 and 2006. Andrew Moriarty is once again the Christian Heritage candidate. Michael Nicula is running on behalf of the Online Party of Canada, which he leads. The party is seeking more direct democracy via the Internet.
The region has elected Conservatives and Liberals in near-equal numbers since Confederation. Edward Blake, until recently the only Liberal leader never to become prime minister, represented Durham West from 1867 to 1872 and from 1879 to 1891.
From the 2011 Census:
Population: 126, 833
Median Age: 40.7
More than 92.3 per cent report English as their mother tongue.
VICTORIA
New Democrat Denise Savoie, a former deputy Speaker of the House, left the job for health reasons after six years as MP.
Environmental law expert Murray Rankin will seek to replace Savoie and hold Victoria for the NDP. Other candidates so far: high-tech leader Dale Gann (Conservative), economist Paul Summerville (Liberal), and the Green party's Donald Galloway. Summerville ran for the NDP in a Toronto riding in 2006.
Other registered candidates: Art Lowe (Libertarian) and retired psychiatrist Philip Ney (Christian Heritage).
Victoria has been Liberal or Conservative for most of the riding's history, aside from Savoie and NDP colleauge John Brewin (1988-1993). Chrétien-era cabinet minister David Anderson was MP from 1993 to 2006.
From the 2011 Census:
Population: 110,942
Median Age: 44.0
More than 94 per cent speak English at home.
-Andrew Thomson
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