Unreasonable to cancel election won by single vote, lawyer for Liberal MP says

By Canadian Press on October 21, 2025.

MONTREAL — The lawyer for a Quebec Liberal MP who won her riding in the April federal election by a single vote says it would be unreasonable to cancel the result over one uncounted ballot.

Tatiana Auguste’s lawyer told a hearing in St-Jérôme, Que. that ordering a new election would effectively deny the right to vote to the more than 60,000 people who cast ballots in the Terrebonne riding.

Quebec Superior Court agreed to hear the case after former Bloc Québécois candidate Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné challenged the election results in the riding.

She launched the challenge after a Bloc voter revealed that her special ballot was returned to her because of an error in the address on the envelope provided by Elections Canada.

Auguste’s lawyer Marc-Étienne Vien told the court that there are well-known risks to voting by mail, and it’s not Elections Canada’s responsibility to ensure mail-in ballots arrive at polling stations.

Sinclair-Desgagné’s lawyer previously argued the voter’s Charter rights were violated and said a new election should be ordered in the riding.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2025.

The Canadian Press