Kitchener Centre will elect a new member of provincial parliament at the end of the month, Premier Doug Ford announced in a news release on Wednesday.
The Nov. 30 election date is just two days before the Ontario Liberal Party will announce its new leader.
The byelection was forced by Laura Mae Lindo's resignation as an MPP in the official Opposition NDP caucus on July 13.
Ford's Progressive Conservatives have a strong majority at Queen's Park, holding 79 of 124 total seats. The NDP caucus includes 28 MPPs. There are nine Liberal MPPs, one Green MPP, and five independents.
The seat for Lambton—Kent—Middlesex is also currently vacant following longtime labour minister Monte McNaughton's resignation on Sept. 22.
Each of the parties represented at Queen's Park touted their candidate in Kitchener Centre shortly after the byelection was announced.
Debbie Chapman will try to retain Lindo's seat for the NDP. She's been a councillor on Kitchener city council for five years.
Rob Elliott is the PC candidate. He's worked in the transportation sector and in government, the party said in a news release.
Kelly Steiss is the Liberals' candidate. The party described her as a "respected management professional with a track record extending over two decades of public service to Kitchener's residents," in a news release.
Aislinn Clancy will be running for the Green party. She was named deputy leader of the provincial Greens two days ago. Clancy is also a Kitchener councillor. She was elected municipally last year.
Ford had until mid-January to call the Kitchener Centre byelection. Ontario's election law dictates that byelections must be called on a Wednesday and held 29 days later.
The byelection falls in the days between when Liberal members vote for their new leader and when ballots are counted and the winner is announced. Either Bonnie Crombie, Ted Hsu, Nate Erskine-Smith or Yasir Naqvi will take over the party on Dec. 2.
Lindo won Kitchener Centre for the NDP in 2018 and 2022. Before Lindo turned the riding orange, the Liberals had held it from 2003 to 2018. It was last PC-repped from 1999 to 2003.
The last two provincial byelections, held on July 27, were both won by the Liberals, amounting to a one-seat pickup for them at the expense of Ford's PCs.
