Polls open in North Vancouver

Polls open in North Vancouver-Capilano byelection

North Vancouver-Capilano is 1 of 3 federal byelections scheduled Monday

Polls have opened in a byelection to fill a vacant federal seat in North Vancouver.

The North Vancouver-Capilano contest is one of three federal byelections scheduled Monday, with others underway in Ontario and Quebec.

The seat became vacant in June when incumbent Liberal MP Jonathan Wilkinson resigned to take a job as Canada's ambassador to the European Union.

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Wilkinson had held the seat since 2015, and captured it easily in last year's federal election with 60 per cent of the vote.

The Conservatives last won the riding in 2011, when Stephen Harper secured his majority government.

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This time, the Liberals are running Braeden Caley, who most recently served as Prime Minister Mark Carney's deputy chief of staff.

Stephen Curran, a North Shore lawyer, is taking his second shot at the riding for the Conservatives after contesting it in the 2025 general election.

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NDP candidate Stephen Tweedale, Green candidate Shelley Luce, Ehsan Arjmand of the People's Party of Canada, and Independent Jeff Monds round out the ballot.

Housing costs and traffic and transportation are seen as key campaign issues.

Elections Canada says about 16,700 people have already cast an advanced ballot in the riding.

In Monday's other byelections, Toronto's Beaches-East York riding is considered a safe seat for the Liberals, while the Conservatives aim to hold Quebec's Chicoutimi-Le Fjord riding, which was decided in a tight three-way contest last year.

The Carney Liberals currently hold 170 seats in the House of Commons — two shy of a majority, though there are seven seats vacant and more byelections expected in the months to come.

The House is scheduled to return for its fall sitting on Sept. 21.

With files from Laurence Watt and The Canadian Press