Trudeau to call Burnaby South byelection for early February

OTTAWA NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh learned he’ll get his chance in early February to win a British Columbia seat in the House of Commons, just as a friendlier riding on his home turf of Brampton, Ont., became available.

Liberal Raj Grewal announced Thursday that he is resigning as MP for Brampton East for unspecified “personal and medical reasons.”

Party whip Mark Holland said Grewal’s resignation is effective immediately.

The surprise news dropped just as Liberal insiders were confirming that early in the new year Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will call three byelections — including in Burnaby South, where Singh has already been nominated to run — for early February.

Brampton East could now very well be added to the roster. Trudeau may also schedule one more byelection in B.C. for the same date.

Another riding, due to be vacated on Jan. 22 by Montreal Liberal MP Nicola Di Iorio, is likely to remain without representation until the general election scheduled for next October.

When Singh was first chosen as NDP leader last fall, he said he’d like to run federally in Brampton East, the riding he had represented for six years in the Ontario legislature and which is now represented by his brother, Gurratan.

He initially intended to wait until the general election to seek a Commons seat but came under intense pressure to get into the House sooner after getting off to shaky start as leader. He announced in August that he would run in Burnaby South, where NDP MP Kennedy Stewart had announced his intention to resign and run for mayor of Vancouver. Singh was nominated as the NDP candidate for Burnaby South in mid-September.