Pity the candidates in four federal byelections that were scheduled to be decided this month.
There were three byelections scheduled for Sept. 8.
They were:
– Westmount Ville Marie;
– Saint Lambert; and
– Guelph.
The first two are in Quebec. A fourth byelection, in Don Valley West was scheduled for September 22.
Candidates spent the last eight weeks running for election, only to learn the day before that there will be a national election, and more time on the campaign trail for everybody.
There were several other byelections held earlier this year.
Taxpayers will be paying millions of dollars after Prime Minister Stephen Harper called the federal election and cancelled the four byelections.
Elections Canada estimated a federal byelection will cost an average of $892,000 per riding.
That means taxpayers could be left with a bill for almost $3.5-million, as campaign spending starts from scratch if a byelection is cancelled.
As three of those byelections were scheduled for Sept. 8, it is unlikely any money will be recovered.
“If a byelection is in full swing, and even if we’re two days before a polling date and it gets cancelled, we start off again, we close the book on the byelection and start off in general election mode,” Elections Canada John Enright, told the Canadian Press.
That means the amount that could be recovered from the money already spent on the four byelections “would be minimal,” said Enright.
The total cost of running a byelection also includes reimbursing the candidates for 60 per cent of their expenses, provided they receive at least 10 per cent of the vote.
But if the byelections are cancelled, Elections Canada will pay all the candidates’ expenses not covered by donations.
The Wellington Advertiser called the offices of Conservative incumbents Michael Chong in Wellington-Halton Hills and Gary Schellenberger in Perth- Wellington to ask if calling the election now is worth the cost.
Neither Chong nor Schellenberger returned the calls by press time.
