Digital Copyright Canada

Elections Canada Electoral district profile (Links to Map, Past Candidates, and Past Election Results)

Member of Parliament for Outremont / Outremont

Name: Thomas Mulcair
e-Mail: <Mulcair.T@parl.gc.ca>
Party: New Democratic Party

The Montreal group has a great WIKI set up at FairCopyrightMontreal.org. This is an exciting trend to see, as it will allow people in the area to better coordinate with their neighbours to talk to their neighbours and their own elected representatives.

I sent the following email to my MP, Thomas Mulcair, of the NDP, and Jim Prentice, Conservative Minister of Industry responsible for Copyright, as wellas a number of other federal politicians. If anyone wishes, please feel to use the text or modify as you see fit.
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Dear Minister Prentice:

Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac (Bloc) won Saint-Hyacinthe--Bagot with 42.1% of the vote, Denis Lebel (Conservative) won Roberval--Lac-Saint-Jean with 59.4% of the vote, and Thomas Mulcair (NDP) won Outremont with 47.5% of the vote.

According to the Hill Times, the following current MPs will not be running in next election. There are 7 vacancies expected by end of summer, with 5 after byelection. Many believe that narrow partisan reasons were used to not call the remaining 5 byelections to happen at the same time.

September 17, 2007 is the date for elections in Outremont and Saint-Hyacinthe–Bagot.

I'm waiting with baited breath for some by-election calls.

According to Elections Canada (links below), these are the deadlines by which the four by-elections must be called:

Outremont (Quebec), July 28th.
Saint-Hyacinthe-Bagot (Quebec), August 25th.

Hill Times reporter Abbas Rana provided a table in this week's Hill Times listing the 15 MPs that have already announced they will not be running in the next election, as well as the 2 vacant seats.

1. Liberal MP Ray Ronin (Nickel Belt)
2. Liberal MP Brenda Chamberlain (Guelph)
3. Liberal MP Stephen Owen (Vancouver Quadra)
4. Liberal MP Bill Graham (Toronto Centre)
5. Liberal MP Paul Martin (LaSalle-Emard)
6. Liberal MP Nancy Karetak-Lindell (Nunavut)
7. Liberal MP Andy Scott (Fredericton)
8. Liberal MP Paul Steckle (Huron-Bruce)
9. Liberal MP Joe McGuire (Egmont)
10. Liberal MP Jim Peterson (Willowdale)
11. Conservative MP Brian Fritzpatrick (Prince Albert)
12. Conservative MP Ken Epp (Edmonton-Sherwood Park)
13. Conservative MP John Williams (Edmonton-St. Albert)
14. Conservative MP Normal Doyle (St. John's East)
15. NDP MP Bill Blaikie (Elmwood-Transcona)

Vacant seats:

1. Bloc MP Yvan Loubier (Saint-Hyacinthe-Bagot)
2. Liberal MP Jean Lapierre (Outremont)

Joseph R. (Joe) Comuzzi (Thunder Bay--Superior North) is expected not to run, but has not yet made an announcement.

The first order of business this morning after the "Christmas" break was the speaker of the house announcing that Jean Lapierre has stepped down as MP of Outremont.

As expected, the house adjourned until Monday, January 29, 2007. This does not mean that MPs are on a long vacation, but that they are now in the ridings. This in fact is an appropriate time to be trying to contact your member of parliament at their riding office to let them know about your concerns on copyright.

There is also an interesting article in the Globe and Mail by Jane Taber talking about a few Liberal MPs from the Montreal area don't plan on running in the next election. These include Outremont MP Jean Lapierre, Mount Royal MP Irwin Cotler, and past Liberal leader and LaSalle-Émard MP Paul Martin.