Federal Ottawa-Vanier byelection happening April 3

Ottawa-Vanier will elect a replacement for Mauril Blanger on April 3, according to the Prime Minister's Office.

Blanger represented the urban riding for the Liberals from February 1995 until August 2016, when he died less than a year after announcing he had been diagnosed withALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease.

• Mauril Blanger, longtime Ottawa-Vanier MP, dies of ALS at 61
• Mauril Blanger remembered as an 'advocate, mentor and friend' by Canadian MPs

Those running to replace him include:

• Nirmala Dookeran for the Green Party, a high school teacher and community activist who ran for the party in the last federal election.

• Mona Fortier for the Liberals, a businesswoman and Liberal organizer who co-chairedBlanger's last campaign.

• Adrian Papara for the Conservatives, who has an MBA from uOttawa and has been working as a director of operations for Alberta Conservative MPTom Kmiec.

• Emilie Taman for the NDP, a lawyer who ran for the party in the last federal election and has been critical of the City of Ottawa's plans for a new central library.

The riding has been held by the Liberals since its creation in 1935 but residents havenever elected a female MP.