Courtesy of a reader, here is a Facebook event for the NDP nomination meeting in the riding about to be vacated by Réal Ménard:

• Hochelaga, QC - NDP Leader Jack Layton will be attending his party's August 3 nomination meeting in this east-end Montréal riding about to be vacated when long-time Bloc Québécois incumbent Réal Ménard resigns for a municipal bid on September 16. Expected to be acclaimed is their 2008 candidate and the president of the east-end refinery workers local of CEP, Jean-Claude Rocheleau. As we previously reported here, New Democrats in this riding have been anticipating Ménard's resignation since February, and are targetting the seat as well as the Bloc's support amongst the Québec labour movement. No word yet on plans by the other parties for nominations, but their candidate recruitment may depend on the outcome of the Québec municipal elections scheduled for November 1.

Once Ménard resigns on September 16, a by-election could theoretically be called as early as Sunday, September 27 for November 2 (assuming the paperwork from the Speaker to the Chief Electoral Office got processed rapidly), or held off as late as a March 15, 2010 call for April 26 or thereafter. In the former case, it could be called together with the 3 other currently vacant seats, so long as it were called before Tuesday, October 13, which would put the date on or before Monday, November 23.

Given that two of the vacant seats will be in Québec, and that Montmagny – L'Islet – Kamouraska – Rivière-du-Loup, QC has to be called by Wednesday, November 18, we could also speculate that there might be two sets of by-elections called ... an earlier set in the vacant BC and Nova Scotia ridings that would either take place during or before the return of the House in September, and a later set in Québec designed not to interfere or overlap with the province-wide November 1 municipal elections.

If you hear about nomination meetings, prospective candidates, or other nomination news (like, when they're going to be called, which would be a great scoop !!), don't be shy: share with Pundits' Guide readers by jotting me a note. And then you can follow all the fun on Twitter.

Labels: Hochelaga, Labour, NDP, Vacant Seats