Polls have opened in a byelection for the federal seat of Cloverdale-Langley City, in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland.
It comes roughly six months after former two-term Liberal MP John Aldag, who had represented the party in the seat from 2015 to 2019 and then from 2021, resigned to run for the B.C. NDP in the provincial election. Aldag ended up losing to Harman Bhangu of the B.C. Conservatives in the Oct. 19 vote.
Running for the Liberals in Cloverdale-Langley City is Madison Fleischer, a local business owner and community leader.
Fleischer recently faced questions from a local Métis community organization about her claims to Indigenous heritage.
The federal Conservatives hope to retake the riding with their candidate Tamara Jansen, who held the seat from 2019 to 2021.
Vanessa Sharma is running for the NDP. Her party profile describes her as a mental health advocate and anti-racism activist.
The Libertarian Party and People’s Party are also running candidates in the riding.
This will be the 11th federal byelection since the 2021 election. This year, the Liberals suffered two byelection blows when they lost their strongholds of LaSalle-Émard-Verdun and Toronto-St. Paul’s to the Bloc Québécois and the Conservatives, respectively.
Cloverdale-Langley City covers an area of Surrey, B.C., as well as the entire City of Langley. The 2021 census showed it had around 130,000 residents.
Campaigns in Cloverdale-Langley City have been closely fought in the previous two elections, with Aldag losing to Jansen by fewer than 1,500 votes in 2019, and winning by about 1,650 votes in 2021.
Voter information cards were not sent out to constituents because of the weeks-long Canada Post strike. Elections Canada is encouraging voters to check its website for details on how to vote.
