Halifax votes are set to go to the polls this April after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called a by-election to fill the seat vacated by Andy Filmore.
Filmore resigned from the seat in August 2024 to run for mayor of Halifax, a position he won in the regional municipality’s October election.
The by-election, set to take place April 14, will be a lengthy one at 44 days. The longest a by-election can be is 50 days, though it can be held as quickly as at least 36 days after the writ is dropped.
Federally, Halifax has bounced back and forth between the Liberals and NDP since 1988. Filmore held the seat since the Liberals’ landslide victory in 2015. Prior to that, the NDP’s Megan Leslie held it after taking over for the party’s former leader, Alexa McDonough.
The by-election, however, could be cancelled if a federal election is called before the vote takes place in April.
The Halifax by-election will be the first one called since Trudeau announced in early January he would step down once a new leader is chosen, a move that prompted a Liberal leadership race — set to end March 9 — and a significant turnaround in the party’s standings in recent polls. Recent polling for Global News, conducted by Ipsos, showed the Liberals had a two per cent lead over the Conservatives, the first time the pollster has shown the party ahead of the Official Opposition in years.
Recent by-elections held while Trudeau remained leader saw the Liberals lose long-time red ridings, including Toronto—St. Paul and Lasalle—Émard—Verdun.