There will be far fewer queer members of Parliament when the 45th Parliament is convened—likely in late May—than there were when the previous Parliament was dissolved for the election. The previous Parliament set a record for openly queer MPs and senators, and featured three out cabinet ministers including Canada’s first openly lesbian cabinet minister. All of that is now gone. While it is almost certain that Prime Minister Mark Carney will shuffle his cabinet now that the election is over, in order to include a few fresh faces and to get a little more regional representation around the table, it is unlikely that we’ll see the same kind of representation this time around.
As well, the fate of the Canadian Pride Caucus, a new non-partisan group made up of queer MPs and senators from all parties and groups, remains up in the air as to whether it will be reconstituted in the new Parliament. Given that much of its membership remains intact, and that one of its co-chairs is a senator who doesn’t face re-election means it will likely carry on in some capacity.
Here’s what happened to some notable openly queer federal candidates during Monday night’s election.
Re-elected:
Liberal Rob Oliphant (Don Valley West, Ontario)
Oliphant is a longtime Liberal MP and is now the longest-serving out MP in the chamber. He was most recently parliamentary secretary for the minister of foreign affairs, and was largely responsible for the federal government’s Africa strategy (for which they decided to attach little importance or funding).
Conservative Melissa Lantsman (Thornhill, Ontario)
Lantsman was a former political staffer who made the jump to politics. She served as Pierre Poilievre’s deputy leader and could be a contender to fill the role of Leader of the Opposition until Poilievre can find a new seat in the House of Commons.
Conservative Eric Duncan (Stormont–Dundas–Glengarry, Ontario)
Duncan was a former mayor of North Dundas before jumping to federal politics. He was part of Poilievre’s leadership team in the previous Parliament.
Newly elected:
Liberal Ernie Klassen (South Surrey–White Rock, British Columbia)
Klassen is a former city councillor and former president of the White Rock Pride Society. “South Surrey–White Rock was known as an ultra-Conservative riding. Well, tonight we elected its first openly gay MP,” Klassen told supporters after he was declared elected. Klassen defeated Conservative incumbent Kerry-Lynne Findlay, who had a reputation for quoting antisemitic conspiracy theories on social media.
*This list is not exhaustive, as neither the Liberals nor the Conservatives responded to media requests asking if they knew if any of their successful candidates identified as LGBTQ2S+.
Did not run again:
NDP Randall Garrison (Esquimalt–Saanich–Sooke, British Columbia)
Garrison resigned his seat at the end of 2024, citing health reasons, though he had already declared that he was not running again.
Liberal Seamus O’Regan (St. John’s South–Mount Pearl, Newfoundland)
O’Regan was a minister in several portfolios under Justin Trudeau’s government. He opted to not run again, citing family reasons.
Liberal Pascale St-Onge (Brome–Missisquoi, Quebec)
St-Onge was Canada’s first out lesbian minister, and served in the portfolios of minister of sport, and later Canadian Heritage. She opted to not run again, as her wife recently gave birth, and she’s decided to spend more time with family.
Liberal Randy Boissonnault (Edmonton Centre, Alberta)
Boissonnault ended his federal career in controversy after a former business partner claimed that he was still involved in the company’s decisions, which Boissonnault denied. Boissonnault was also accused of race-shifting and falsely claiming Indigenous heritage, which he also denied, and frequently corrected media outlets who counted him among Indigenous MPs, though he did admit that he was unclear in how he presented his adopted family’s Indigenous status.
Incumbents defeated:
NDP Blake Desjarlais (Edmonton Griesbach)
Desjarlais was the first openly Two-Spirit MP, and was unsuccessful in defending his seat in Edmonton Griesbach.
NDP Lisa Marie Barron (Nanaimo-Ladysmith)
Barron was unsuccessful in defending her seat in Nanaimo–Ladysmith, B.C., where the vote seemed split between the NDP, Liberals and Green Party, resulting in the Conservative winning.
Notable non-incumbent defeated:
Green Party co-leader Jonathan Pedneault (Outremont)
Pedneault came in fifth in the riding of Outremont, and resigned as co-leader shortly thereafter, taking responsibility for the party’s loss of seats and vote share.
“Twice now, I have failed to convince my fellow citizens to send me to Ottawa. And yesterday, I failed to secure the re-election of my colleague Mike Morrice, along with many other competent and good-hearted individuals who placed their trust in us,” Pendneault wrote in his resignation letter.
The Senate:
While the House of Commons has fresh faces, the Senate remains the same owing to their appointed nature. Over the last Parliament, the number of out senators doubled thanks to new appointments from Justin Trudeau. There are now four out queer senators:
Senator René Cormier (New Brunswick), an activist for Acadian language, heritage and culture.
Senator Kim Pate (Ontario), former head of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies, who has spent her career trying to reform the prison system.
Senator Marnie McBean (Ontario), a former Olympic gold medalist.
Senator Kristopher Wells (Alberta), a former academic who studied LGBTQ2S+ issues.
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