A by-election was held in the federal riding of Ottawa—Vanier in Ontario, Canada on 3 April 2017 following the death of Mauril Bélanger on August 16, 2016.
The riding is home to many civil servants and generally corresponds to the wards of Beacon Hill-Cyrville, Rideau-Rockcliffe and Rideau-Vanier.
After several prominent potential candidates, including Bélanger's widow Catherine Bélanger, Ottawa councillors Tobi Nussbaum and Tim Tierney, and 2014 council candidate Catherine Fortin LeFaivre[3][4] declined to run, eight candidates sought the Liberal nomination: Senate staffer Khatera Akbari, lawyer Jean Claude Dubuisson, communications consultant Mona Fortier, Liberal staffer Eric Khaiat, former Cape Breton Highlands—Canso MP Francis LeBlanc, public servant Ainsley Malhotra, former executive director of The Humanitarian Coalition Nicolas Moyer, and Unique FM executive director Véronique Soucy.
[5][6] Unsuccessful 2015 candidate Emilie Taman, a University of Ottawa law professor and daughter of former Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbour, ran again for the NDP.
[3] Parliament Hill staffer Adrian Papara defeated former New Brunswick MLA Joel Bernard for the Conservative Party nomination, decided on February 16.