Editing Marc Garneau (section)

=== Initial steps (2006–2008) ===
Garneau resigned as the president of the Canadian Space Agency to run for the Liberal Party of Canada in the [[2006 Canadian federal election|2006 federal election]] in the riding of [[Vaudreuil—Soulanges (federal electoral district)|Vaudreuil—Soulanges]], which was then held by [[Meili Faille]] of the [[Bloc Québécois]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Canadian to live on space station|url=http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=d9b95058-afc9-4b08-935c-693087c5584a|access-date=October 20, 2012|newspaper=The Calgary Herald|date=February 12, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923224042/http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=d9b95058-afc9-4b08-935c-693087c5584a|archive-date=September 23, 2015}}</ref> The Liberal Party's support dropped off considerably in Quebec after the [[Sponsorship scandal]] and though considered a [[star candidate]], Garneau lost to Faille by over nine thousand votes.<ref>{{cite news|title=Voters deliver high-profile wins, defeats|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/voters-deliver-high-profile-wins-defeats-1.619524|access-date=July 2, 2014|newspaper=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|date=January 24, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Conservatives make breakthrough in Quebec; Bloc wins 51 seats|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/conservatives-make-breakthrough-in-quebec-bloc-wins-51-seats-1.586146|access-date=July 2, 2014|newspaper=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|date=January 24, 2006}}</ref>

In the [[2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election|2006 Liberal Party leadership election]] Garneau announced his support for perceived front-runner [[Michael Ignatieff]], who lost to [[Stéphane Dion]] on the final ballot.<ref>{{cite news|title=Backroom pressure mounts|url=http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/story.html?id=d48aa656-315a-4cc2-9310-61cf4b3d22ec|access-date=October 20, 2012|newspaper=Canwest News Service|date=December 2, 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924143411/http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/story.html?id=d48aa656-315a-4cc2-9310-61cf4b3d22ec|archive-date=September 24, 2015}}</ref> With the resignation of Liberal MP [[Jean Lapierre]] in 2007, Garneau expressed interest in being the party's candidate in Lapierre's former riding of [[Outremont (electoral district)|Outremont]].<ref name="confirmed">{{cite news|title=Garneau confirmed on local ballot|url=http://www.westmountexaminer.com/Politics/2007-10-19/article-673308/Garneau-confirmed-on-local-ballot/1|access-date=October 21, 2012|newspaper=Westmount Examiner|date=October 19, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140505042146/http://www.westmountexaminer.com/Politics/2007-10-19/article-673308/Garneau-confirmed-on-local-ballot/1|archive-date=May 5, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> Dion instead appointed [[Jocelyn Coulon]] as the party's candidate, who went on to be defeated by the [[New Democratic Party (Canada)|New Democratic Party's]] [[Thomas Mulcair]] in the by-election.<ref>{{cite news|title=NDP takes Outremont|url=http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/story.html?id=90fd99ba-7462-4b2a-8433-424388603d69|access-date=October 21, 2012|newspaper=The Montreal Gazette|date=September 18, 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130119172044/http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/story.html?id=90fd99ba-7462-4b2a-8433-424388603d69|archive-date=January 19, 2013}}</ref>

In May 2007, Garneau filed nomination papers to be the party's candidate in Westmount—Ville-Marie, after former Liberal Party deputy leader [[Lucienne Robillard]] announced she would not be seeking re-election. However, a week after filing his nomination papers Dion announced that he had hand-picked a candidate for the riding. Garneau later withdrew his nomination papers and announced he no longer had an interest in politics. In October 2007, Garneau and Dion held a joint news conference where they announced that Garneau would be the Liberal Party candidate in Westmount—Ville-Marie.<ref name="confirmed"/> Robillard announced her resignation as Member of Parliament in January and a by-election was later scheduled for September 8, 2008.<ref>{{cite news|last=Larsen|first=Wayne|title=Garneau looks forward to by-election|url=http://www.westmountexaminer.com/LocalNews/2008-06-11/article-1538211/Garneau-looks-forward-to-byelection/1|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130209093113/http://www.westmountexaminer.com/LocalNews/2008-06-11/article-1538211/Garneau-looks-forward-to-byelection/1|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 9, 2013|access-date=October 21, 2012|newspaper=Montréal Express|date=June 11, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Harper calls three federal by elections for early September|url=http://www.paherald.sk.ca/Politics/2008-07-25/article-177179/Harper-calls-three-federal-byelections-for-early-September/1|access-date=October 21, 2012|newspaper=Canadian Press|date=July 25, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140505041359/http://www.paherald.sk.ca/Politics/2008-07-25/article-177179/Harper-calls-three-federal-byelections-for-early-September/1|archive-date=May 5, 2014}}</ref> However, the by-election was cancelled during the campaign when Prime Minister [[Stephen Harper]] called a [[2008 Canadian federal election|general election for October 14, 2008]]. Though some pundits predicted a close race between Garneau and NDP candidate [[Anne Lagacé Dowson|Anne Lagacé-Dowson]], Garneau went on to win the riding by over 9,000 votes.<ref name="spaceman wins seat"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Tight Liberal/NDP race predicted for Westmount-Ville Marie by-election|url=http://www.westislandchronicle.com/News/Politics/2008-08-13/article-636167/Tight-Liberal-NDP-race-predicted-for-Westmount-Ville-Marie-by-election/1|access-date=October 21, 2012|newspaper=The West Island Chronicle|date=August 13, 2008}}</ref>