Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes his way to Caucus on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, June 20, 2018. iPolitics/Matthew Usherwood

The governing Liberals’ list of future candidates increased by only single digits during a month-and-a-half-long period in which the party also lost three MPs from its ranks.

According to an iPolitics assessment, the Liberal Party’s 2019 team is currently made up of 169 candidates, up just four House-hopefuls from when we last reported on the parties candidates on March 5. Since then, the Conservative Party has bolstered the lead it holds in nominated candidates, bringing its total to 226. The Greens have the third most, with 88, while the NDP have 58 candidates and the Bloc Québécois have 15.

On March 5, the Conservatives led all parties with 204 candidates. The Liberals followed them with 165 candidates; the Greens had 56; the NDP had 43; and the Bloc Québécois had picked 12.

Here’s more on the parties’ candidates, with six months to go until the election.

The Conservatives

The Conservatives are the only party to have cracked the two-third mark, of candidates that they’ll run in October’s general election.

David Busch, a party activist and lawyer, is the Conservative candidate that will run against Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, in her B.C. riding of Saanich–Gulf Islands. Jay Shin, a corporate lawyer, is the party’s candidate that will run against NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, in his B.C. riding of Burnaby South. Richard Lehoux, a former mayor and the former president of the Fédération québécoise des municipalités, will run against People’s Party Leader Maxime Bernier in his Quebec riding of Beauce. The Conservatives haven’t yet nominated a candidate to run in the Quebec riding of Papineau, against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Note: Figures are based on the party’s website and announcements posted on the party’s Twitter.

The Liberals

Now-Independent MPs Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott were removed from the Liberal caucus by Trudeau after they resigned from his cabinet, amid the SNC-Lavalin affair, last month. A spokesperson for the Liberal Party wouldn’t say by what date the party expects to announce new candidates in Wilson-Raybould’s B.C. riding of Vancouver Granville and Philpott’s Ontario riding of Markham–Stouffville. Both had been renominated for the Liberals before they were expelled from the caucus. Celina Caesar-Chavannes also left the Liberal caucus amid the SNC-Lavalin controversy, but had previously decided that she would not be seeking re-election.

The Liberals haven’t nominated candidates to run against Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer in his Saskatchewan riding of Regina–Qu’Appelle, or in May’s, Bernier’s or Singh’s ridings.

Note: Figures are based on information provided by the party, announcements posted on its Twitter, and candidate nominations reported by iPolitics and other media.

The Greens

The Greens have nominated candidates to run against each of the other national federal parties’ leaders, except for Singh. Josiane Fortin will run in Beauce, Juan Vazquez will run in Papineau and Meridale Dewar will run in Regina–Qu’Appelle.

Note: Figures are based on information provided by the party and other reports in the media.

The NDP

Marie Della Mattia, the campaign co-chair of the NDP, downplayed the party’s short candidate list, when speaking to the Toronto Star about two weeks ago. Della Mattia told the Star that the NDP takes longer to confirm candidates than other parties because of its rules that are designed to attract diverse candidates.

The NDP hasn’t nominated candidates to run in the ridings of Bernier, Trudeau, Scheer or Singh yet.

Note: Figures are based on information provided by the party and other reports in the media.

The Leftovers

The Bloc Québécois have nominated at least 15 candidates, which now includes their leader Yves-François Blanchet. CBC reported that Blanchet would run in Beloeil–Chambly, which is currently held by NDP MP Matthew Dube. There are 77 total federal ridings in Quebec.

Last month, People’s Party Leader Maxime Bernier announced that his party would be accepting applications from hopeful candidates online until April 23, with candidate selection meetings to follow in the second week of May.

Over the weekend, Philpott told CTV’s Question Period that she would consider running for the NDP or the Greens, but not the Conservatives. Wilson-Raybould has not made a declarative statement about her political future. Caesar-Chavannes has maintained that she will not seek re-election, since leaving the Liberal Party.

Longtime MP Tony Clement announced earlier this month that he would not seek re-election. Clement served multiple roles in former prime minister Stephen Harper’s cabinet and ran for the Conservative leadership two years ago. He resigned from the Conservative caucus last year amid a scandal in which he revealed he had been extorted by someone who he sent explicit images and videos to, thinking they were a consenting woman.

Erin Weir has maintained that he hopes to be permitted to run for the NDP in the next election, but Singh has said he won’t let him. Weir is recognized as a member of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in the House of Commons. The CCF aren’t recognized as a registered party by Elections Canada.

The three other independents — former Liberals Hunter Tootoo, Darshan Singh Kang and Raj Grewal — have not indicated whether they plan to run in the election in the fall.

With files from Kirsten Smith

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