On October 5, the city of Ottawa will hold a byelection to fill the municipal council seat left vacant by Stephen Blais.

The vacant Cumberland ward seat held by Blais, who left to serve as the Member of the Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Orléans, could have been filled by an appointment made by the council itself.

While Blais was elected as MPP in February, the council held off deciding about whether to have an election or make an appointment because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In July, the Ottawa Council agreed to allow voters the choice to fill the seat.

For the first time, electors will be allowed to apply to vote by special mail-in ballot should they feel uncomfortable about voting in person or be unable to make it to a voting location.

Sometime on or before February 2, 2020, a by-election must be held for the seat in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario for the electoral district of Ottawa-Vanier.

On August 2, the Chief Electoral Officer of Ontario received a notice of vacancy for the position from the Assembly.

MPP Nathalie Des Rosiers, who had announced her intention to leave office on May 16, resigned on July 31 to begin working August 1 as the Principal of Massey College at the University of Toronto.

Any by-election in the province must be called within six months of the Chief Electoral Officer receiving notice of the vacancy.

Today, MPP Glen R. Murray of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario announced his resignation from the Legislative Assembly and as Minister of the Environment and Climate Change effective September 1, 2017. Murray is leaving to work as the executive director at the Pembina Institute, an environmental think-tank.

Premier Kathleen Wynne announce she will not call a byelection to replace MPP Glen Murray in order to save the province the cost of administrating the election, according to CBC News. Murray’s legislative seat will remain vacant until the next general election set for June 7, 2018. Wynne announced MPP Chris Ballard will replace Murray as minister, according to the premier’s press release.

The Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington, D.C. based nonprofit advocate for reforming marijuana laws, and the Institute for Justice filed a First Amendment challenge in federal court to Alabama’s training requirement for lobbyists.

The training class is mandatory and held four times a year in Montgomery.

The Marijuana Policy Project is asking the court to block the burdensome requirement as it infringes on the right to talk to government officials about matters of public policy.