Doly Begum (R) / Facebook/Adam van Koeverden

Doly Begum is one of eight candidates running for Scarborough Southwest, one of three ridings where byelections are being held on April 13. Liberals led by Mark Carney are one seat short of a razor-thin majority in the House of Commons.

If they win one or more of the three byelections, the party’s political future for the rest of the term will be secured.

Doly Begum, of South Asian descent, was the deputy leader of the NDP in the Ontario Provincial Assembly. Her decision to change parties stirred a political debate. She had won her provincial assembly seat more than once.

Other than her, there is another candidate of South Asian descent running in the run for the Monday byelection. She is Pooja Malhotra, representing the Green Party. Other candidates include Diana Filippova (Conservatives), April Francisco (Independent), Peter Kovbakis (People's Party), Lyall Sanders (Centrist Party), Fatima Shaban (NDP), and David Vedova (Christian Heritage Party).

For the University Rosedale riding from where Chrystia Freeland quit to take up an important assignment in Ukraine, there are 10 candidates in the running. They include Dan Hodgson (Conservative), Danielle Martin (Liberal), Serena Pardy (NDP), and Andrew Massey (Green). This riding has been producing good results for the Liberals.

The third riding in Quebec will have a record number of 49 candidates in the run, including candidates from the ruling Liberals (Tatiana Auguste—whose election was set aside by the Supreme Court), Maxime Beaudoin (NDP), Adrienne Charles (Conservatives), and Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné (Bloc Québécois, who had challenged the result of the April federal election).

In the federal elections held in April last year, though Liberals improved their standing by winning 166 seats against 153 they had in the previous House, they still fell short of a clean majority in the House of Commons.

Since the April 2025 elections, dramatic changes have taken place in federal politics. While a couple of MPs belonging to the official opposition party, the Conservatives, have crossed the floor to join the Liberals, it still cannot cross the clear majority barrier.

The reason: some members of the Liberal caucus quit politics to join the diplomatic corps, paving the way for the byelections.

Among the by-elections called for April 13 is the Montreal-area riding of Terrebonne, where the Supreme Court of Canada recently invalidated last year’s result. The incumbent represented the ruling Liberals, Tatiana Auguste. By-elections will also be held in the ridings of Scarborough Southwest and University-Rosedale.

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These by-elections will be an acid test for Prime Minister Mark Carney and his ruling Liberal Party, as the main opposition party, the Conservatives, has been gunning for his minority government.

Longtime MP Bill Blair resigned his seat in Scarborough Southwest to become Canada’s new high commissioner to the United Kingdom, while the University-Rosedale seat opened up after former federal minister Chrystia Freeland resigned in January to take up a new voluntary role advising the Ukrainian government.

In the Terrebonne riding, Liberal Tatiana Auguste was initially declared the winner before the result flipped to Bloc Québécois’ Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné after the votes went through a validation process. A judicial recount completed on May 10, however, concluded the Liberals received one more than Sinclair-Desgagné.

But Sinclair-Desgagné challenged the results after a supporter complained that she had tried to vote by mail using a special ballot that was never counted, and on February 13, the Supreme Court sided with the Bloc candidate and invalidated the results.

The Liberals currently have 169 seats in the House of Commons, and if they were to win all three races, they would then have a razor-thin majority government.

The Liberals are running family physician and health care advocate Dr. Danielle Martin in the riding of University-Rosedale, while former Ontario NDP deputy leader Doly Begum has been chosen to run in the riding of Scarborough Southwest. Her decision to quit the NDP and join the Liberals' bandwagon evoked controversy, as she had been a long-time NDP legislator. Both ridings are considered liberal strongholds.

After the announcement of three by-elections, another Conservative MP decided to cross the floor. Member of Parliament from Sarnia—Lambton—Bkejwanong, Marilyn Gladu, said goodbye to her old party to join the Liberals, making the government one short of a majority.

Gladu said, in a statement, she is joining Prime Minister Mark Carney, as she believes it is “the best thing for our community’s priorities and for our country.” She is now the fifth MP to join the Liberals since the 2025 election and the fourth Conservative.

Chris d’Entremont, Michael Ma, and Matt Jeneroux all left the Conservatives to join the Liberals between November 2025 and February 2026. Nunavut MP Lori Idlout left the NDP in March.

The move comes ahead of three byelections this Monday. If the Liberals win one of three seats, they will officially have a majority government.

 

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