Yearly Round-Up: 2013

Each Friday, our Weekly Round-Up provides a digest of the major events in Canadian politics. This week’s edition will summarize some of the most important political news stories from the past year.

Elections and by-elections

• The BC Liberal Party and Premier Christy Clark won a “surprise” majority government in the province’s 40^th provincial election.
• The Nova Scotia Liberal Party won a majority government in the provincial election, making leader Stephen McNeil the new premier.
• Nunavut went to the polls for the territory’s fourth general election. Following the election, a Leadership Forum selected Peter Taptuna as the new premier.
• Five federal by-elections were held in 2013:
  • Liberal Yvonne Jones became the new MP for Labrador, replacing Peter Penashue.
  • Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg became the new MP for Bourassa, replacing Denis Coderre.
  • Liberal Chrystia Freeland became the new MP for Toronto Centre, replacing Bob Rae.
  • Conservative Ted Falk became the new MP for Provencher, replacing Vic Toews.
  • Conservative Larry Maguire became the new MP for Brandon-Souris, replacing Merv Tweed.

Party leaderships

• Papineau MP Justin Trudeau won the federal Liberal Party leadership, receiving more than 80 per cent of the vote.
• Seven provincial parties have new leaders:
  • Kathleen Wynne became Ontario’s first female premier on the third ballot at the Ontario Liberal leadership convention, replacing Dalton McGuinty.
  • Greg Clark was chosen as the new leader of the Alberta Party, replacing Glenn Taylor.
  • Rana Bokhari was elected as the new leader of Manitoba’s Liberal Party, replacing Jon Gerrard.
  • The Newfoundland and Labrador Liberal party chose Dwight Ball as their new leader, replacing interim leader Eddie Joyce.
  • The Saskatchewan Liberal Party appointed Darrin Lamoureux as interim leader, replacing previous interim leader Greg Gallagher.
  • Adam Olsen was appointed interim leader of the Green Party of British Columbia, replacing Jane Sterk. 
  • Halifax Needham MLA Maureen MacDonald became the interim leader of the Nova Scotia NDP, replacing former Premier Darrell Dexter.

Resignations

• Five senators announced their retirements in 2013:
  • Manitoba Liberal Senator Rod Zimmer.
  • Ontario Liberal Senator Mac Harb.
  • Nova Scotia Conservative Senator Gerald Comeau.
  • Ontario Conservative Senator David Braley.
  • Ontario Conservative Senator Hugh Segal announced that he will retire in June 2014.
• Bloc Québécois Leader Daniel Paillé stepped down for health reasons. Paillé was elected leader in December 2011.
• Macleod MP Ted Menzies announced his resignation. The date of the by-election to replace him has not yet been set.
• Adrian Dix announced that he will step down as the leader of the BC NDP as soon as a new leader is selected. The leadership vote to replace Dix will take place in the fall of 2014.

Floor crossings, caucus changes and a cabinet shuffle

• Prime Minister Stephen Harper shuffled his cabinet, adding eight new members and creating two new portfolios.
• NDP Jonquiere-Alma MP Claude Patry crossed the floor to join the Bloc Québécois.
• Edmonton East MP Peter Goldring was welcomed back to the Conservative caucus after being found not-guilty of failing to provide a breath sample at a police check stop.
• Thunder Bay-Superior North MP Bruce Hyer joined the Green Party, doubling the size of its caucus.
• There are three new Independent MPs:
  • Edmonton-St. Albert MP Brent Rathgeber resigned from the Conservative caucus.
  • Peterborough MP Dean Del Mastro left the Conservative caucus after being charged with intentionally breaking campaign rules during the 2008 federal election. 
  • Ahuntsic MP Maria Mourani was expelled from the Bloc Québécois caucus as she opposed the Parti Québécois’ values charter.

Other happenings

• After a brief prorogation, the Second Session of Canada’s 41^st Parliament opened with a Speech from the Throne read by Governor General David Johnston.
• Canada’s new electoral map was released. The next federal election will feature 30 new electoral districts, bringing the total to 338.
• The Senate voted to suspend Senators Pamela Wallin, Mike Duffy and Patrick Brazeau without pay until the 2015 election. 
• Prince George Alexander Louis was born and becomes third in line to become King of Canada, following his grandfather Prince Charles and father Prince William.
• NDP MP Peter Stoffer was chosen as Maclean’s Magazine’s Parliamentarian of the Year.

The Weekly Round-Up will return in January 2014. For ongoing updates, follow us on Twitter at @CIVIX_Canada.

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