NDP MP Sheila Malcolmson is leaving federal politics to seek a provincial seat in the British Columbia legislature in what's shaping up to be a crucial byelection.
Malcolmson, who was elected in the Nanaimo-Ladysmith riding in 2015, will run for the seat vacated by MLA Leonard Krog, who won Nanaimo's mayoral race Saturday.
NDP B.C. Premier John Horgan is holding a news conference at 1 p.m. ET.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh will have a media availability at 1:45 p.m. ET after the weekly caucus meeting; CBCNews.ca will carry that live.
When Krog officially resigns, it will trigger a byelection that could change the power dynamic in the provincial legislature.
The NDP and the Green Party have between them 44 MLAs in the B.C. legislature. If a Liberal candidate wins the Nanaimo byelection, it would give the Liberals the power to block provincial legislation and defeat the government, triggering a provincial election.
Nanaimo has voted NDP in 13 of the last 15 provincial elections, but B.C. Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson has said he hopes to win the riding.
Malcolmson's departure from the federal scene may be good news for the provincial NDP, but it comes as the federal party deals with a growing number of incumbents who have decided not to run in next year's federal election.
Linda Duncan (the NDP's only MP from Alberta), London-area MP Irene Mathyssen, Ontario MP David Christopherson and Quebec MPs Hélène Laverdière and Roméo Saganash have all announced they do not plan to seek re-election.
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair already has stepped aside and B.C. MP Kennedy Stewart left to launch a successful run for the mayor's office in Vancouver.
Singh has said he will run for Stewart's seat when the byelection in Burnaby South is called.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/malcolmson-ndp-nanaimo-bc-1.4875932?cmp...