Judge upholds one-vote Liberal win in Terrebonne, rejects Bloc’s bid for new election

A Quebec Superior Court judge has dismissed a legal challenge from the Bloc Québécois over the razor-thin Liberal victory in the Terrebonne riding.

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A Quebec Superior Court judge has dismissed a legal challenge from the Bloc Québécois over the razor-thin Liberal victory in the Terrebonne riding, ruling that a clerical error in a voter’s mail-in ballot did not warrant overturning the election result.

The April 28 federal election saw Liberal candidate Tatiana Auguste win by just one vote over Bloc candidate Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné following a judicial recount. Sinclair-Desgagné petitioned the court to annul the result after a Bloc voter, Emmanuelle Bossé, revealed that her special ballot was never counted due to a misprinted postal code on the return envelope issued by Elections Canada.

Justice Éric Dufour issued his ruling on Monday, stating that the error, while unfortunate, did not constitute an irregularity under federal electoral law.

“This is a simple human error, which sometimes occurs in general elections, committed inadvertently and without any dishonest or malicious intent,” he wrote. “This error in no way affects the integrity of the Canadian electoral system, in which citizens can still have confidence.”

The court heard that a local Elections Canada employee had mistakenly printed his own postal code on dozens of return envelopes for special ballots, including Bossé’s, roughly three weeks before voting day. While the employee later became aware of the issue, he did not report it, believing the rate of returned mail-in ballots was not unusually high.

Sinclair-Desgagné’s legal team argued that Bossé’s Charter rights were violated and that the close margin made the impact of the error significant enough to warrant a new vote. However, the judge disagreed, finding that Bossé had not been prevented from voting and that annulling the election would unjustly disenfranchise thousands of other voters.

Lawyers for both the Liberal candidate and Elections Canada cited a 2012 Supreme Court ruling, which set a high threshold for overturning election results due to administrative mistakes.

In his decision, Dufour warned against broadening the legal definition of electoral irregularity to include clerical oversights.

“To cancel the results in a riding should only be pronounced when the most serious cases occur,” he said. “The present contestation does not convince the court that it is part of those cases.”

A spokesperson for the Bloc Québécois said the party is reviewing the 27-page ruling and had no immediate comment.

The Liberals currently hold 169 seats in the House of Commons, three short of a majority. The Bloc holds 22.