No voter information cards for upcoming B.C. byelection due to Canada Post strike
Cloverdale-Langley City federal byelection to be held on Dec. 16 in Lower Mainland area
Elections Canada has announced that it will not be sending out voter information cards for the upcoming federal byelection in Cloverdale-Langley City, B.C., due to the ongoing postal workers' strike.
The byelection, scheduled for December 16, was called after former Liberal MP John Aldag resigned to run for the provincial NDP in the 2024 election.
With less than two weeks until the vote, Elections Canada is advising voters to visit its website to confirm their registration status, as they will not receive the usual voter information cards by mail.
The strike, which began on November 15, has seen over 55,000 postal workers walk off the job, halting mail delivery. As of Monday evening, no agreement had been reached between the Canadian Union of Postal Workers and Canada Post.
Elections Canada has urged voters to register or update their address by December 10, noting that registration can also be completed when voters go to the polls on advance voting days or on election day.
The byelection for the federal seat is the 11th since the 2021 federal election. The Cloverdale-Langley City riding includes parts of Surrey, B.C., and the City of Langley, which has a population of approximately 130,000, according to the 2021 census.
In previous elections, the race in this riding has been closely contested, with Aldag losing by fewer than 1,500 votes in 2019 to the federal Conservatives, and winning by about 1,650 votes in 2021.
Six candidates are running for the seat. Madison Fleischer, a local business owner, is representing the Liberals, while the Conservatives are fielding Tamara Jansen, a former MP who held the seat from 2019 to 2021. Candidates from the New Democratic Party, Green Party, Libertarian Party, and People’s Party are also vying for the position.
Elections Canada has scheduled four advance voting days, from December 6 to 9, at designated polling stations in the riding. Registered voters can also cast their ballots at the Elections Canada office until December 10.
