Harper announces date for 2 Quebec byelections

Federal byelections will be held in the Quebec ridings of Outremont and Saint-Hyacinthe-Bagot on Sept. 17, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Saturday.

Both ridings were previously held by opposition parties.

The Montreal riding of Outremont opened up in January when former Liberal transport minister Jean Lapierre quit politics to return to a media career.

Saint-Hyacinthe-Bagot,a mostly rural riding southeast of Montreal, became vacant afterYvan Loubier resigned last February to run unsuccessfullyfor the Parti Québécois in the Quebec provincial election held in March. Loubier, a member of theBloc Québécois,was first electedin the riding in 1993.

The byelectionswillgive Quebecers their first shot at judgingHarper's minority Conservative government after 18 months ofwooing voters.

A third byelection in the Quebec riding of Roberval-Lac-Saint-Jean, another Bloc-held seat,is expected to be scheduled for the same day in September. Itofficially becomes vacant on Sunday when veteran MP Michele Gauthier formally retires.

Outremonthas long been considered a Liberal stronghold and has generated the most media attention because of theLiberals' star candidate,former journalist and Université de Montréal professor Jocelyn Coulon.

The Conservatives are running former Canadian diplomat Gilles Duguay in the riding and the Bloc Québécois has chosen psychoanalyst Jean-Paul Gilson. The NDP will be represented by former Quebec environment minister Thomas Mulcair.

Chief editorialist at the Montreal newspaper La Presse, André Pratte, says it will be a tight race for the Outremont seat —and thatthe NDP could present a serious challenge to the Liberals.

"The people might vote for Mr. Mulcair even though he's for the NDP, which is usually not very successful in Quebec because it is a byelection and a byelection is always a good time to express your feelings about a cause or your anger towards the main parties."

The NDP haswon a seat in Quebec only once,in a byelection heldin 1990,when consumer advocate Phil Edmonston beatthe Liberal candidate in the riding of Chambly.