Joe Byrne (Canadian politician)

Joe Byrne (born December 26, 1961) is the leader of the New Democratic Party of Prince Edward Island. He became leader on April 7, 2018 after defeating two other candidates on the first ballot of the NDP leadership convention.

Joe Byrne
Leader of the New Democratic Party of Prince Edward Island
Incumbent
Assumed office April 7, 2018
Preceded by	Michael Redmond
Personal details
Born	(1961-12-26) December 26, 1961 Sept-Îles, Quebec
Political party	New Democratic Party
Alma mater	University of Prince Edward Island
Profession	community outreach worker, administrator

Previously, Byrne was the federal NDP candidate in Charlottetown riding in the 2011, 2015 and 2019 federal elections, placing second behind Liberal candidate Sean Casey in 2015, and fourth in 2019.

Byrne was a missionary in the Dominican Republic for seven years and then served as director of youth ministry at the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlottetown for 12 years. Since 2010, he has been community connections supervisor with the PEI Association of Newcomers to Canada, where he has helped plan the annual ‘DiverseCity’ festival.[1][2][3]

Byrne also contested the 2019 Prince Edward Island general election in District 12, Charlottetown-Victoria Park, losing to Green Party candidate Karla Bernard.[4]

Electoral record

2019 Canadian federal election: Charlottetown
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Sean Casey	8,812	44.26	−12.01
	Green	Darcie Lanthier	4,648	23.35	+17.57
	Conservative	Robert A. Campbell	4,040	20.29	+5.47
	New Democratic	Joe Byrne	2,238	11.24	−11.90
	Christian Heritage	Fred MacLeod	172	0.86	New
Total valid votes/Expense limit			19,910	100.0		$85,261.73
Total rejected ballots			274	1.36	+0.89
Turnout			20,184	73.45	−2.14
Eligible voters			27,480
	Liberal hold		Swing		−14.79
Source: Elections Canada[5]

2019 Prince Edward Island general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Karla Bernard	1,272	40.50	+21.70
	Liberal	Richard Brown	875	27.90	-7.00
	Progressive Conservative	Tim Keizer	656	20.90	-6.56
	New Democratic	Joe Byrne	336	8.19	-6.16
Total valid votes			2,839	100.0
	Green gain from Liberal		Swing		+14.35

2015 Canadian federal election: Charlottetown
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Sean Casey	11,910	56.27	+16.79	–
	New Democratic	Joe Byrne	4,897	23.14	–1.94	–
	Conservative	Ron MacMillan	3,136	14.82	–17.89	–
	Green	Becka Viau	1,222	5.77	+3.51	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			21,165	100.0		$168,485.89
Total rejected ballots			99	0.47	–0.14
Turnout			21,264	76.24	+6.14
Eligible voters			27,891
	Liberal hold		Swing		+9.36
Source: Elections Canada[6][7]

2011 Canadian federal election: Charlottetown
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Sean Casey	7,292	39.48	-10.58	$61,465.09
	Conservative	Donna Profit	6,040	32.71	+0.60	$48,556.35
	New Democratic	Joe Byrne	4,632	25.08	+12.77	$45,026.11
	Green	Eliza Knockwood	417	2.26	-2.57	$2,301.92
	Christian Heritage	Baird Judson	87	0.47	-0.23	$3,159.86
Total valid votes/Expense limit			18,468	100.0	–	$69,664.10
Total rejected ballots			113	0.61	-0.16
Turnout			18,581	70.10	+3.96
Eligible voters			26,507
	Liberal hold		Swing		-5.59
Sources:[8][9]

References

1. "The Cadre Chats with NDP Candidate Joe Byrne". The Cadre | UPEI. October 19, 2015.
2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on April 8, 2018. Retrieved April 8, 2018.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
3. "Security Verification | LinkedIn".
4. P.E.I. NDP leader says party will rebuild after poor election showing. The Guardian (PEI). April 23, 2019.
5. "Results Validated by the Returning Officer". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
6. "October 19, 2015 Election Results — Charlottetown (Validated results)". Elections Canada. October 20, 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
7. "Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
8. "OVR / ROS". www.elections.ca.
9. Canada, Elections. "Search for Financial Returns". www.elections.ca.