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The Supreme Court of Canada annulled the results of a closely contested riding from last spring’s election on Friday.
The ruling means that a new byelection will have to be called for the Montreal-area riding of Terrebonne.
The electoral district was initially declared for the Bloc Québécois, but a judicial recount later found the Liberals had won the seat by one vote.
Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné, the Bloc candidate, called on the courts to annul the results and call a new election after CBC News reported that a voter had their mail-in ballot returned to them due to a misprint on the return envelope.
The voter, Emmanuelle Bossé, had marked her ballot for the Bloc.
Elections Canada acknowledged the error but said the results had already been finalized.
Liberal Tatiana Auguste was sworn in as the riding’s MP following the recount and has been sitting as Terrebonne’s representative since.
Elections Canada said that the return address printed on Emmanuelle Bossé’s return envelope was wrong. (Radio-Canada)
In October, a Superior Court judge rejected Sinclair-Desgagné’s call for a do-over, arguing that a postal code mishap amounted to “human error” and does not constitute an irregularity as defined under federal electoral law.
The top court overturned that ruling after hearing arguments earlier in the day.
Auguste’s lawyer, Marc-Etienne Vien, faced a barrage of questions from the justices.
Vien argued that the Bloc voter whose special ballot had been returned “was not prevented from voting,” when Chief Justice Richard Wagner interrupted him.
“Hold on a minute,” the judge told him. “The purpose of the law is to promote public participation at a time in history when institutions are under strain.”
This was the beginning of a series of interruptions.
“It seems to me that the responsibility is perfectly clear. The responsibility for this problem today lies with Elections Canada, not with [Bossé],” declared Justice Malcolm Rowe, without even asking Vien a question.
Sworn statements filed in the case show that an Elections Canada employee discovered he had mistakenly printed his own postal code on several special ballots about three weeks before election day. He estimated that a minimum of 40 envelopes had gone out with the wrong postal code.
“We respect the decision and the institutions that reinforce the great confidence that Canadians have in the integrity of our electoral process,” a Liberal Party spokesperson said in an email.
WATCH | ‘Today democracy won,’ Bloc candidate for Terrebonne says:
‘Today democracy won,’ says Bloc candidate for Terrebonne as Supreme Court annuls election result
After the Supreme Court of Canada annulled the federal election result in the Montreal-area riding of Terrebonne on Friday, Bloc Québécois candidate Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné said she was relieved with the top court’s decision. Sinclair-Desgagné lost the seat to Liberal Tatiana Auguste by just one vote in the 2025 election.
Sinclair-Desgagné characterized Friday’s decision as a win for democracy.
“I feel hopeful that democracy has been protected today,” she told CBC News following the court’s decision.
“Elections Canada not only made a mistake in the postal code, but they also made a mistake in not correcting their mistake.”
First time election results have been annulled
A spokesperson for Elections Canada acknowledged Friday’s decision and said the organization stands ready to hold a byelection in Terrebonne. The independent election body said this is the first time in its history that a court has annulled the results of an election.
The court will have to inform the Speaker of the House, who will in turn have to notify the House that there is a vacancy before a byelection can be called.
Friday’s ruling puts another dent into the Liberals’ seat count after the governing party had been on a verge of a majority at the start of the year.
Two Conservatives crossed the floor late last year, meaning the Liberals needed just one more seat to pass bills without opposition support.
But two former cabinet ministers — Chrystia Freeland and Bill Blair — resigned in recent weeks leaving their seats open until byelections can be held.
The Liberals are now three seats back of a majority. But while Freeland and Blair’s former seats are considered safe Liberal districts, Terrebonne will likely prove a tougher contest.
Sinclair-Desgagné had been the MP for Terrebonne since 2021 — and the riding has largely been held by the Bloc since the early 90s.
The unofficial results on election night had the Liberals flip the seat from the Bloc by 35 votes. But Elections Canada later declared Sinclair-Desgagné had won by 44 votes after it double-checked the numbers through its validation process.
The vote differential between Sinclair-Desgagné and Auguste was close enough to automatically trigger the judicial recount, which flipped the result back to Auguste.
Once the Speaker declares a vacancy in the House, the government will have to wait at least 11 days to call a byelection for Terrebonne.