A quick look at the five victors in Monday’s federal byelections
OTTAWA — Five federal byelections Monday resulted in five new faces soon to be gracing Parliament Hill and the House of Commons. A look at Canada’s newest MPs:
1. Mary Ng — Markham-Thornhill (replaces former immigration minister John McCallum)
Ng was a senior staffer to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau before deciding to seek the Liberal nomination in the suburban riding north of Toronto. Ng, who immigrated to Canada from Hong Kong with family, does not currently live in the riding. She grew up nearby north of Toronto and split her time between there and Ottawa while she was working in the Prime Minister’s Office.
2. Emmanuella Lambropoulos — Saint-Laurent (replaces former foreign affairs minister Stéphane Dion)
Lambropoulos, 26, is a school teacher specializing in French and history, as well as someone who has helped out in the past with Stéphane Dion’s election campaigns. She has an education degree from McGill University in Montreal and has been working on a master’s degree in educational leadership and administration. She also speaks French, English and Greek.
3. Mona Fortier — Ottawa-Vanier (replaces former Liberal MP Mauril Belanger)
Fortier is an Ottawa businessperson who worked on eight campaigns with Belanger. She has a sociology degree and MBA from the University of Ottawa. The mother of three also did work with a provincial advisory committee on francophone affairs and was awarded the Queen’s diamond jubilee medal in 2012.
4. Bob Benzen — Calgary Heritage (replaces former prime minister Stephen Harper)
Benzen is a small-business owner who has canvassed for the Conservatives and spearheaded a project dubbed “Decade of Excellence” to thank Harper for his work as prime minister. The campaign included print ads and billboards across the country. He is a father of three and has lived in the riding for nearly three decades.
5. Stephanie Kusie — Calgary Midnapore (replaces former Harper cabinet minister Jason Kenney)
Kusie is a former diplomat with a political science degree from the University of Calgary and an MBA from Rutgers. She speaks English, French and Spanish and was a policy advisory on Latin America. Kusie ran for city council in Calgary in 2013 and as executive director of Common Sense Calgary, an advocacy organization.