MONTREAL -- A judicial recount will be held in the riding of Brome-Missisquoi at the request of the Bloc Quebecois, it was announced Friday by Canada's Chief Electoral Officer.
The Liberal candidate Pascale St-Onge, a former union leader, had been declared the winner by a margin of 197 votes over the Bloc candidate Marilou Alarie.
These results were known a few days after the Sept. 20 election.
The incumbent was Liberal Lyne Bessette, who decided not to seek re-election after only one term.
In the last 20 years, voters in Brome-Missisquoi have switched allegiances between the Liberals, the Bloc and the NDP.
Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault said Friday that the judicial recount will begin on Tuesday, October 12.
Earlier this week, a second recount resulted in the Liberals winning a riding that was originally given to the Bloc Québécois: Chateauguay-Lacolle. The incumbent MP, Brenda Shanahan, finally won by a mere 12 votes.
Early election results indicated that Shanahan had received 286 votes less than her Bloc Québécois rival Patrick O'Hara.
This result leaves the electoral picture in Quebec unchanged from 2019 to 2021 in terms of seat numbers. The Liberal Party has 35 MPs, the Bloc Québécois has 32, the Conservatives have 10 and the NDP has one.
--This report was first published in French by The Canadian Press on Oct. 8, 2021.
