Justin Trudeau’s director of appointments, Mary Ng, announced on Twitter Wednesday morning that she is seeking the Liberal party nomination in the federal riding of Markham-Thornhill.

A spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed late Tuesday afternoon that Ng has taken a leave of absence, effective Monday, from her job in the PMO.

The spokesperson declined to comment on the reason for Ng’s leave at the time. Ng did not return requests for comment.

Proud and excited to announce my nomination to become the #Liberal Candidate for #Markham-Thornhill. Join me at votemaryng.ca #cdnpoli — Mary Ng (@mary_ng) February 15, 2017

The federal riding of Markham-Thornhill, located north of downtown Toronto, has been without a member of Parliament for just over a week. Its former MP, John McCallum, stepped down from the position after being appointed as Canada’s new ambassador to China.

Ng does not live in Markham-Thornhill, but she grew up close by in north Toronto. She has been splitting her time between there and Ottawa while working for Trudeau.

Ng previously worked for the Ontario Public Service and in the president’s office at Ryerson University in Toronto. She made headlines in November 2013 for co-organizing a ‘ladies night’ fundraiser for the Liberal party that became the subject of much criticism and controversy.

The fundraiser — called “Justin Unplugged” — featured Trudeau as the guest of honour and, for the price of $250 a ticket, offered event-goers the opportunity to “really get to know the future prime minister.”

Many Conservative cabinet ministers and MPs criticized the fundraiser for being “patronizing” to women.

According to a Globe and Mail spread on Trudeau’s inner circle, Ng is also a close friend of Trudeau’s chief of staff, Katie Telford. Ng has launched a website for her nomination run: votemaryng.ca, in which she describes herself as “a lifelong Liberal.”

The mayor of Markham, Frank Scarpitti, is also mulling a run for the Liberal nomination in Markham-Thornhill, as reported by the Hill Times. Scarpitti’s chief of staff said Tuesday that Scarpitti will “let the media know if and when a decision has been made.”

McCallum represented Markham-Thornhill federally from 2000 to 2017. He served in several different cabinet positions during that time. Most recently, McCallum served as Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship after the 2015 federal election.

The six-term MP officially announced his resignation in the House of Commons on Jan. 31, 2017. The Speaker of the House notified the acting chief electoral officer of the riding’s vacancy in the House on February 6.

Trudeau must set a date for the Markham-Thornhill federal byelection by sometime in early August. The earliest the byelection can be held is March 27.

There are several other federal ridings that will soon undergo byelections. Two seats in Calgary — Calgary Heritage and Calgary Midnapore — have been without representatives since Conservative MPs Stephen Harper and Jason Kenney resigned from their positions. The byelections in these ridings must be called by no later than February 25 and March 22, respectively.

The Ottawa-Vanier seat in the House of Commons is also empty. Liberal party members in the riding recently elected Mona Fortier to run to succeed long-time MP Mauril Bélanger, who passed away from ALS — or Lou Gehrig’s disease — last August. Trudeau must set a date for the Ottawa-Vanier byelection by February 19.

Stéphane Dion’s riding of Saint-Laurent in Quebec also needs to elect a new representative to replace the former foreign affairs minister, who is now the Canadian ambassador to the European Union and Germany. The Speaker of the House notified Elections Canada of the riding’s vacancy on February 8.

With files from the Canadian Press