The federal riding of Saint-Laurent had been held by Liberal Stephane Dion for over 20 years, but it has now been vacated and a race to fill the seat is underway.
After being out of politics for about two years, former Liberal MNA Yolande James has thrown her name into the race.
In February 2014, James announced she was leaving politics to spend more time with her family.
She had given birth to a son 10 months before that and had to spend at least three days a week in Quebec City.
Now, James has stepped back into the spotlight after she announced she’ll be entering the race for the federal Liberal nomination in Saint-Laurent.
“One of the reasons that I left was of course as I mentioned my son, but he’s also a big reason why I decided to go back too,” James said.
As a former immigration minister in the National Assembly, James says the reason why she’s entered the race is because she wants to represent the riding in the House of Commons.
“The whole issue of really making diversity something that matters and closing the gap is something that always speaks to me,” James said. “Especially for the people in Saint-Laurent, which is very diverse and very representative of Quebec and of Canada.”
The nomination battle will be a three-person race between James, current Saint-Laurent Mayor Alan DeSousa and Marwah Rizqy.
James said she has enjoyed spending time meeting people from Saint-Laurent.
“A day at a time, a person at a time I hope to earn their confidence,” James said. “My focus was and continues to be, being able to meet the people of Saint-Laurent.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that the byelection for Saint-Laurent will take place on April 3 along with byelections in three other ridings: Markham—Thornhill, Ont., Calgary Heritage, Alta, and Calgary Midnapore, Alta.
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