Canada's Trudeau says there's 'more work to do' after his party suffers another by-election loss
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he’s focused on the work ahead after the ruling Liberals lost in another by-election, raising more questions about his ability to lead the party into the next federal election
ByJIM MORRIS Associated Press
September 17, 2024, 2:32 PM
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday he’s focused on the work ahead after the ruling Liberals lost in another by-election, raising more questions about his ability to lead the party into the next federal election.
For the second time in recent months the Liberals lost in a former stronghold when the Bloc Quebecois won the vote in the electoral district of LaSalle-Emard-Verdun Monday in Montreal in a tight three-way race with the New Democratic Party.
“Obviously it would have been nicer to be able to win . . . but there’s more work to do,” Trudeau said in Ottawa.
“The big thing is to make sure that Canadians understand the choice they get to make in the next election," Trudeau said. "That’s the work we’re going to continue to do.”
Election Canada results show the Bloc candidate Louis-Philippe Sauve finished with 28% of the vote. Liberals' candidate Laura Palestini collected 27.2% and finished just 248 votes behind the winner. The NDP collected 26.1% and was about 600 votes behind the winner.
It’s the second time in three months that Trudeau’s party has lost a by-election in a riding they held for years. In June, the Conservatives narrowly defeated the Liberals in Toronto-St. Paul’s.
The Liberals won every seat in Toronto and almost every seat on the Island of Montreal in the last election.
Monday's loss “is a major blow for the Liberals,” said Daniel Beland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal.
“This is a riding we would expect them to win under normal circumstances,” Beland said in an email. “Not only did this not happen, they lost by nearly 16 percentage points in popular votes compared to their score in the riding back in 2021, when they had easily won there.”
Andrew Perez, a longtime Liberal supporter and strategist, posted on social media that the loss is “yet another nail in Justin Trudeau’s coffin.”
“If Trudeau’s Liberals can’t hold this safe seat, it will spell even bigger trouble for the party’s prospects in Quebec and across Canada in a critical election year,” Perez said in a statement before the final vote.
Beland doesn’t believe Trudeau will step down as party leader before the next election, which is scheduled for next fall.
“Some Liberals might try to convince him to step down but it’s not sure at all he would,” said Beland.
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne was asked Tuesday if Trudeau should remain as prime minister.
Champagne said there is “concern, there’s anxiety” among Canadian voters.
“They’re ready for a positive vision of the country,” he said. “I think if there’s someone who can really inspire Canadians, it’s Justin Trudeau.
Most polls show the federal Conservatives well ahead of the Liberals. Trudeau is also very unpopular with many Canadians.
The NDP recently ended its supply and confidence agreement with the Liberals that helped keep the minority government in power. That led to speculation there could be an early federal election.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has said his party plans to put forward a non-confidence motion “at the earliest possible opportunity” in hopes of bringing down the Liberal government.
Neither the NDP nor Bloc, a party based only in Quebec and devoted to Quebec sovereignty, has said if they will help bring the government down.
Beland said it’s difficult to predict if there will be an early election.
“It seems that only the Conservatives want a federal election right now so either the Bloc or the NDP could still decide to support the Liberals at the next confidence vote,” he said. “They (the Liberals) only need the support of one of these opposition parties to stay alive.”
In another by-election Monday, the NDP held onto its seat in Winnipeg in a race closer than previous votes. The NDP defeated the Conservative candidate by 1,200 votes.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh took to social media to call the decision “a big victory.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he’s focused on the work ahead after the ruling Liberals lost in another by-election, raising more questions about his ability to lead the party into the next federal election
ByJIM MORRIS Associated Press
September 17, 2024, 2:32 PM
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday he’s focused on the work ahead after the ruling Liberals lost in another by-election, raising more questions about his ability to lead the party into the next federal election.
For the second time in recent months the Liberals lost in a former stronghold when the Bloc Quebecois won the vote in the electoral district of LaSalle-Emard-Verdun Monday in Montreal in a tight three-way race with the New Democratic Party.
“Obviously it would have been nicer to be able to win . . . but there’s more work to do,” Trudeau said in Ottawa.
“The big thing is to make sure that Canadians understand the choice they get to make in the next election," Trudeau said. "That’s the work we’re going to continue to do.”
Election Canada results show the Bloc candidate Louis-Philippe Sauve finished with 28% of the vote. Liberals' candidate Laura Palestini collected 27.2% and finished just 248 votes behind the winner. The NDP collected 26.1% and was about 600 votes behind the winner.
It’s the second time in three months that Trudeau’s party has lost a by-election in a riding they held for years. In June, the Conservatives narrowly defeated the Liberals in Toronto-St. Paul’s.
The Liberals won every seat in Toronto and almost every seat on the Island of Montreal in the last election.
Monday's loss “is a major blow for the Liberals,” said Daniel Beland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal.
“This is a riding we would expect them to win under normal circumstances,” Beland said in an email. “Not only did this not happen, they lost by nearly 16 percentage points in popular votes compared to their score in the riding back in 2021, when they had easily won there.”
Andrew Perez, a longtime Liberal supporter and strategist, posted on social media that the loss is “yet another nail in Justin Trudeau’s coffin.”
“If Trudeau’s Liberals can’t hold this safe seat, it will spell even bigger trouble for the party’s prospects in Quebec and across Canada in a critical election year,” Perez said in a statement before the final vote.
Beland doesn’t believe Trudeau will step down as party leader before the next election, which is scheduled for next fall.
“Some Liberals might try to convince him to step down but it’s not sure at all he would,” said Beland.
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne was asked Tuesday if Trudeau should remain as prime minister.
Champagne said there is “concern, there’s anxiety” among Canadian voters.
“They’re ready for a positive vision of the country,” he said. “I think if there’s someone who can really inspire Canadians, it’s Justin Trudeau.
Most polls show the federal Conservatives well ahead of the Liberals. Trudeau is also very unpopular with many Canadians.
The NDP recently ended its supply and confidence agreement with the Liberals that helped keep the minority government in power. That led to speculation there could be an early federal election.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has said his party plans to put forward a non-confidence motion “at the earliest possible opportunity” in hopes of bringing down the Liberal government.
Neither the NDP nor Bloc, a party based only in Quebec and devoted to Quebec sovereignty, has said if they will help bring the government down.
Beland said it’s difficult to predict if there will be an early election.
“It seems that only the Conservatives want a federal election right now so either the Bloc or the NDP could still decide to support the Liberals at the next confidence vote,” he said. “They (the Liberals) only need the support of one of these opposition parties to stay alive.”
In another by-election Monday, the NDP held onto its seat in Winnipeg in a race closer than previous votes. The NDP defeated the Conservative candidate by 1,200 votes.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh took to social media to call the decision “a big victory.”
Canada's Justin Trudeau faces setback as party loses crucial Montreal election
The result will put more focus on the political future of Trudeau, who has become increasingly unpopular after almost nine years in office
Reuters Ottawa Published 17.09.24
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks while Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre pretends to play a violin in the background during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in OttawaReuters
Canada's ruling Liberal party lost a once-safe seat in a Montreal parliamentary constituency, preliminary results showed on Tuesday, a result likely to put more pressure on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to quit.
Elections Canada said that with 100% of the votes counted in LaSalle-Emard-Verdun, Liberal candidate Laura Palestini had been beaten into second place by the separatist Bloc Quebecois candidate, Louis-Philippe Sauvé.
Palestini received 27.2% of the vote compared to 28% for the Bloc and 26.1% for the New Democratic Party candidate. The election was held to replace a Liberal legislator who quit.
The result will put more focus on the political future of Trudeau, who has become increasingly unpopular after almost nine years in office.
Trudeau insists he will lead the party into an election that must be held by the end of October 2025, but some Liberal legislators have broken ranks to call for change at the top.
Alexandra Mendes, a Liberal lawmaker who represents a Quebec constituency, said last week that many of her constituents wanted Trudeau to go.
In the 2021 general election, the Liberals won the Montreal seat with 43% of the vote, ahead of the Bloc Quebecois on 22% and the NDP on 19%. Trudeau had suggested voters may react to anger over elevated prices and a housing crisis.
Polls suggest that the Liberals will lose badly to the right-of-center Conservatives of Pierre Poilievre in the next federal election. A Leger poll last week put the Conservatives on 45% of public support, a level of national support rarely seen in Canada, with the Liberals in second place on 25%.
Trudeau's popularity has sagged as voters struggle with a surge in the cost of living and a housing crisis that has been fueled in part by a spike in arrivals of temporary residents including foreign students and workers.
Poilievre is promising to axe a federal carbon tax he says is making life unaffordable and last week vowed to cap immigration limits until more homes could be built.
Liberals concede the polls look grim but say they will redouble efforts to portray Poilievre as a supporter of the Make America Great Again movement of former U.S. President Donald Trump as an election approaches.
Poilievre, an acerbic career politician who often insults his opponents, also says he would defund CBC, Canada's public broadcaster. In April he was ejected from the House of Commons after he called Trudeau "a wacko."
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