A candidate from the Bloc Québécois announced on Monday her intention to seek a new election in the Terrebonne riding in Montreal by appealing to the Supreme Court. The riding was won by the federal Liberals in April with a narrow one-vote margin. Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné is taking her case to the highest court after a Superior Court judge recently dismissed her argument that irregularities should invalidate the victory of Liberal candidate Tatiana Auguste.
Sinclair-Desgagné stated in a French message on Facebook that the Superior Court’s judgment in Quebec contains factual errors and an interpretation of the law that warrants an appeal. Following the general election on April 28, Auguste was initially declared the winner in Terrebonne, but after a validation process, Sinclair-Desgagné was briefly in the lead. However, a judicial recount on May 10 confirmed the Liberals as the victors with 23,352 votes, just one more than Sinclair-Desgagné.
The appeal stemmed from a Bloc voter’s revelation that her special ballot was rejected due to an address error on the envelope provided by Elections Canada. Sinclair-Desgagné argued that this error by Elections Canada led to the exclusion of at least one vote. Superior Court Justice Éric Dufour disagreed, ruling that the postal code mistake did not meet the criteria for an irregularity under federal electoral law, attributing it to a simple human error without malicious intent.
Sinclair-Desgagné plans to start a crowdfunding initiative to help fund the legal expenses of the appeal, emphasizing her commitment to upholding democracy and ensuring that the electoral process is conducted fairly.