As Canadians head to the polls in two federal byelections Monday, the Winnipeg riding of Elmwood-Transcona could see its outcome influenced by a crucial group: prison voters. Blacklock's Reporter says the byelection follows the resignation of New Democrat MP Daniel Blaikie, and the riding is no stranger to narrow election results, with a previous race decided by just 61 votes.In the 2015 election, Conservative MP Lawrence Toet narrowly lost re-election in Elmwood-Transcona, with 125 prisoners casting ballots in that contest. Toet, who had campaigned on a tough-on-crime platform, faced a tight race where every vote counted.Prisoners have been allowed to vote since the 2002 Supreme Court ruling Sauvé v. Canada, which struck down a clause in the Canada Elections Act that barred inmates from participating in elections. Fergus O’Connor, the Kingston lawyer who won the case, noted that prisoner voting patterns are not monolithic: “Prisoners in my experience tend to vote the way of the general population,” he said. “Being convicted of a crime does not define you completely.”The other by-election is in the Montréal-area riding of LaSalle-Émard-Verdun, where voters will elect a successor to Liberal MP and former attorney general David Lametti. Lametti resigned abruptly following a federal judge’s ruling on his use of the Emergencies Act during the Freedom Convoy protests.The stakes are high for both races following a June upset in the Toronto-St. Paul’s riding, where the Conservatives claimed a victory in a historically Liberal stronghold. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland attributed the loss to “hard times” faced by Canadians but maintained confidence in the government’s leadership.“We know we have to work hard to earn back their trust,” Freeland said, adding that despite the setback, the government is committed to addressing voters' concerns.
