Federal byelection called for Calgary Heritage

Foreign interference concerns in byelections Calgary-Heritage, formerly held by Stephen Harper, is seen as 'safe' for Conservatives, but there are concerns of foreign interference.

A federal byelection has been called for the southwest riding of Calgary Heritage.

The riding has been vacant since Bob Benzen stepped down on December 31, 2022.

Benzen was first elected in April 2017 to replace former Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and he was re-elected in 2019.

Shuvaloy Majumdar is now the conservative hopeful running to replace Benzen in the southwest Calgary riding.

Elliot Weinstein is the Liberal candidate.

Advance voting begins on July 14, while election day is July 24.

In a statement on Sunday, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic Leblanc says the latest measures in place to deter foreign interference will apply to the byelection in Calgary Heritage, as well as four other byelections elsewhere in the country that go ahead June 19.

Those other byelections are in Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba.

"The measures we are putting in place today are a continuation of the work we have done since 2015 to ensure the strength and resilience of our democracy," said Leblanc.

"Any attack, or attempted attack, on our democracy is unacceptable. We will continue to be vigilant and nimble in responding to the threat posed by foreign interference."

Ottawa says the Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections (SITE) Task Force will monitor and assess foreign interference threats during the byelection period.

SITE will also produce a classified and unclassified report on the task force's assessment of any potential attempts at foreign interference identified during the byelection.

Recent allegations that China meddled in the last two federal elections have dominated political discussion in the country as of late, with calls from both Conservative and NDP leaders for a public inquiry.