Richard J. "Dick" Cannings is a Canadian biologist, author and politician. He was elected as the South Okanagan—West Kootenay Member of Parliament in the 2015 Canadian federal election for the New Democratic Party, and re-elected in 2019. As a member of the 42nd Canadian Parliament he sponsored three private member's bills: one to promote the use of wood in federal public works projects, one to add various lakes and rivers to Navigable Waters Protection Act, and another to a Minister of Environment to respond to a Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada report. Cannings was appointed the NDP Critic for Post-Secondary Education as well as the Deputy Critic for Natural Resources in the 42nd Canadian Parliament. He became the NDP Critic for Natural Resources in 2016 and served in that position until 2021. In October 2021, he became the NDP Critic for Emergency Preparedness and Critic for Small Business and Tourism, as well as Deputy Critic for Natural Resources and Deputy Critic for Innovation, Science and Industry. In December 2021, he was named an inaugural member of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Science and Research.

The 45th Canadian federal election will take place on or before October 20, 2025, to elect members of the House of Commons to the 45th Canadian Parliament. The date of the vote is determined by the fixed-date provisions of the Canada Elections Act, which requires federal elections to be held on the third Monday in October in the fourth calendar year after the polling day of the previous election, though a current government bill proposes to postpone the date to October 27, 2025 to avoid conflicting with Diwali. In addition to the statutory fixed election date provisions, Canada has a constitutional requirement specified in both section 50 of the Constitution Act, 1867 and section 4 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that elections for the House of Commons must be held no more than five years after the preceding election.