In a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 federal by-election held on 31 March 1947 in the riding of Cartier

Cartier (electoral district)

Cartier was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1925 to 1968.It was created in 1924 from parts of George-Étienne Cartier riding....

 in Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, Paul Massé ran as a left-wing Autonomist candidate. The by-election was called after the former Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP), Communist

Communist Party of Canada

The Communist Party of Canada is a communist political party in Canada. Although is it currently a minor or small political party without representation in the Federal Parliament or in provincial legislatures, historically the Party has elected representatives in Federal Parliament, Ontario...

 Fred Rose

Fred Rose (politician)

Fred Rose was a Communist politician and trade union organizer in Canada. He was born in Lublin in what is now Poland, part of Russia at the time. He emigrated to Canada as a child in 1916. He became involved with the Young Communist League of Canada, and then joined the Communist Party of Canada...

, had been expelled from Parliament after being convicted of espionage under the Official Secrets Act.

Massé placed second, with 6,929 of the 24,704 votes cast (28% of the popular vote) to Liberal Party of Canada

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

 candidate Maurice Hartt

Maurice Hartt

Maurice Hartt was a Romanian-born Canadian politician.Born in Dorohoi, Romania, the son of Saul Hartt and Malia Segal, he immigrated to Canada when he was twelve. He studied law at Queen's University and was called to the Quebec Bar in 1935. He was created a King's Counsel in 1942 and practiced...

, who won with 9,649 votes.

Massé had previously been a candidate for the Bloc Populaire Canadien

Bloc populaire canadien

The Bloc populaire canadien was a political party in the Canadian province of Quebec from 1942 to 1947. It was founded on September 8, 1942 by opponents of conscription during World War II...

in Cartier in a 1943 by-election (when he lost by only 100 votes) and the 1945 election

Canadian federal election, 1945

The Canadian federal election of 1945 was the 20th general election in Canadian history. It was held June 11, 1945 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 20th Parliament of Canada...

. In the 1963 general election

Canadian federal election, 1963

The Canadian federal election of 1963 was held on April 8 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 26th Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the defeat of the minority Progressive Conservative government of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker.-Overview:During the Tories' last year in...

, he stood as a candidate in the riding of Laurier

Laurier (electoral district)

Laurier was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1935 to 1988.It was created in 1933 from parts of Laurier—Outremont and Saint-Denis ridings....

 for the New Democratic Party

New Democratic Party

The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...

.