A candidate from the Bloc Québécois announced on Monday her intention to seek a new election in the riding of Terrebonne in Montreal, which was won by the federal Liberals by a margin of one vote in April. Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné is taking her case to the Supreme Court after a lower court rejected her argument that irregularities should invalidate the narrow victory of Liberal candidate Tatiana Auguste.
In a statement posted on Facebook in French, Sinclair-Desgagné stated, “The Superior Court of Quebec’s ruling contains multiple 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 later lost to Sinclair-Desgagné after a validation process. However, a judicial recount on May 10 confirmed the Liberals as the winners with 23,352 votes, just one more than Sinclair-Desgagné.
Sinclair-Desgagné filed an appeal after a Bloc voter disclosed that her special ballot was rejected due to an address error on the envelope supplied by Elections Canada. She argued that this error prevented at least one vote from being counted. The Superior Court dismissed this argument, ruling that the postal code mistake did not constitute an irregularity under federal electoral law. Justice Éric Dufour stated that it was a common human error without malicious intent.
Sinclair-Desgagné mentioned her intention to start a crowdfunding campaign to help cover the legal expenses for the appeal, emphasizing her commitment to upholding democracy despite the financial burden.