Tamara Jansen will run once again run for the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) in the Cloverdale-Langley City riding.
The former MP won the CPC nomination at a recent riding contest held Oct. 21. Jansen won on the first ballot after facing off against two others, Paul Brar and Bradley Bakken.
All three candidates gave speeches in the afternoon and voting took place throughout the evening.
“Everybody seemed determined,” said Will Hanks, a Conservative Party volunteer and scrutineer.
Those voting were all Conservative Party members and had to be members for more than 30 days in order to be eligible to vote.
“And everybody was in high spirits,” Hanks added. “That includes the people voting, the volunteers, and the scrutineers for the three people running to win the candidacy.”
Jansen lost in the last election as the incumbent to John Aldag, who had in turn lost as the incumbent to Jansen in the election prior. Jansen will once again look to take the seat in an upcoming by-election or a federal election.
The riding has been without an MP since Aldag resigned earlier this year in a failed bid to win a seat for the B.C. NDP in the provincial election. (He ran in the riding of Langley-Abbotsford and lost to provincial Conservative Harman Bhangu by more than 5,600 votes.)
The party nomination contest was closed to the media and no voting results were released.
According to the Parliament of Canada Act, if a general election occurs within nine months of a constituency becoming vacant, no by-election will be called. As Aldag resigned his seat on May 27, 2024, that means if a federal election occurs before Feb. 27, 2025, there won’t be a by-election for the vacant seat.
Conversely, if no election occurs before that date, the Governor General issues a warrant to the Chief Electoral Officer. That government then has between 11 and 180 days to call a by-election. Generally, all vacant ridings across the country will hold by-elections on the same day.
According to Elections Canada, a by-election campaign must run for a minimum of 37 days and up to a maximum of 51 days.
