The Bloc Québécois is challenging a judicial recount for the Terrebonne riding by demanding a do-over of the vote after the riding flipped to the Liberals by a single vote. Elections Canada has acknowledged further irregularities involving five more mail-in ballots.
“Since Elections Canada cannot by themselves ask for the election to be repeated, we have to bring this situation in front of a judge, in a court, in order to do the election all over again,” Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet told reporters at the House of Commons Thursday.
When asked whether he was concerned about “misinformation circulating about this riding,” Blanchet said, “he didn’t give a damn.”
“I do not give a damn about misinformation. The situation is quite clear, the judge has established that the Bloc Québécois would have lost the riding by one vote,” said Blanchet.
“The vote appeared in the hands of a citizen in a very clear fashion and in that situation, the law requires the election to be done all over again in the riding of Terrebonne. This is what we expect.”
Blanchet stressed the urgency of the recount taking place before Parliament returns as the votes of the MP whose election is being contested will have an effect in the House of Commons.
“There may be wrongdoing without the intention of performing wrongdoing,” Blanchet said.
Meanwhile, Elections Canada declared that the Terrebonne recount is final on Wednesday, despite a misprint which caused one special ballot to be returned to sender.
“The Canada Elections Act outlines the process for contesting an election when there are concerns about the result of an election in a riding, other than those concerns addressed through judicial recounts,” an Election Canada spokesperson told True North.
The spokesperson also said the agency will “provide courts with all necessary information in a completely neutral way.”
Elections Canada first investigated after Terrebonne resident Emmanuelle Bossé presented an envelope that contained a vote for the Bloc Québécois which had been mailed back to him.
On the night of the election, the results indicated that the riding was won by Liberal MP Tatiana Auguste by 35 votes.
However, following a standard validation process, the seat briefly flipped to Bloc Québécois candidate Sinclair-Desgagné by 44 votes.
A judicial recount then flipped the riding back to the Liberals but only by a single vote.
According to Elections Canada, this is the only case the agency is aware of in the 2025 election where an envelope containing a marked ballot was returned to a voter because of an address misprint.
“It’s a matter of trust in our democratic institutions,” said Sinclair-Desgagné. “It is important in our case to follow through with these steps so that citizens of Terrebonne have a legitimate MP to represent them.”