By-Elections 2010

Three by-elections were held on Monday, two of which in Manitoba, the other in Ontario. The by-elections filled the vacancies created by the resignation of Inky Mark in Dauphin - Swan River - Marquette, Maurizio Bevilacqua in Vaughan and Judy Wasylycia-Leis in Winnipeg North. The results were particularly devastating to the Green Party, along with the NDP who failed to hold on to Winnipeg North.

Dauphin - Swan River - Marquette voted as everyone predicted, Conservative. Robert Supock was elected with nearly the same amount of support his predecessor had, at 57%. The NDP placed in second increasing their support by 10%, far away from the Liberals and Greens totals.

Dauphin - Swan River - Marquette (Manitoba) by-election of 2010
1. SOPUCK, Robert (Conservative Party of Canada) 8,176 votes with 57% support
2. HARDER, Denise (New Democratic Party) 3,785 votes with 26% support
3. SARNA, Christopher Scott (Liberal Party of Canada) 1,481 votes with 10% support
4. STOREY, Kate (Green Party of Canada) 809 votes with 6% support
5. DONDO, Jerome (Christian Heritage Party of Canada) 160 votes with 1% support

In Vaughan, the real contest was between the Liberals Tony Genco and the Conservatives Julian Fantino, the former Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police. It is because of this the NDP and Green Party lost a large amount of support. The Liberals gave it their best, but a star Conservative candidate in Greater Toronto was too much for them.

Vaughan (Ontario) by-election of 2010
1. FANTINO, Julian (Conservative Party of Canada) 19,260 votes with 49% support
2. GENCO, Tony (Liberal Party of Canada) 18,263 votes with 47% support
3. BORDIAN, Kevin (New Democratic Party) 673 votes with 2% support
4. RODRIGUEZ-LARRAIN, Claudia (Green Party of Canada) 477 votes with 1% support
5. FABRIZIO, Paolo (Libertarian Party of Canada) 246 votes with 1% support
6. BAXTER, Dorian (Progressive Canadian Party) 112 votes
7. BORY, Leslie (Independent) 110 votes
8. JEDAN, Brian (United Party of Canada) 55 votes

Finally, it was a heated battle between former Liberal MLA Kevin Lamoureux and popular sports coach Kevin Chief. Here too, the Green vote fell in favour of either the Lamoureux or Chief, along with the Conservatives losing their second place finish established in 2008.

Winnipeg North (Manitoba) by-election of 2010
1. LAMOUREUX, Kevin (Liberal Party of Canada) 7,303 votes with 46% support
2. CHIEF, Kevin (New Democratic Party) 6,490 votes with 41% support
3. JAVIER, Julie (Conservative Party of Canada) 1,647 votes with 10% support
4. HARVIE, John (Green Party of Canada) 114 votes with 1% support
5. COLEMAN, Jeff (Pirate Party of Canada) 94 votes with 1% support
6. KOMARNISKI, Frank (Communist Party of Canada) 71 votes
7. TRUIJEN, Eric (Christian Heritage Party of Canada) 46 votes

These results show a massive drop in Green Party support across the board, although it may return when the focus is off these ridings during a general election. They also suggest Liberal support is continuing to slide in rural areas, with its replacement being the NDP. A Liberal victory on Monday also most likely reaffirmed the Liberals belief in a federal election being held in the first half of 2011. It is likely that should the opportunity arise, they will vote against next year's budget in the hope to cause this election.