OTTAWA (Askume) – Canada’s ruling Liberal Party lost a once-safe seat in a Montreal parliamentary constituency, preliminary results showed on Tuesday, a result that could pile more pressure on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to resign.
Elections Canada says Liberal candidate Laura Palestinian was defeated by separatist Bloc Québécois candidate Louis-Philippe after 100 per cent of votes were counted in the La Salle-Emma-Verdun region. Louis-Philippe Sauvé lost and finished second.
Palestine won 27.2% of the vote, while the Alliance Party won 28% and the New Democracy candidate won 26.1%. The election was to replace resigned liberal MPs.
The result will focus much attention on the political future of Trudeau, who has become increasingly unpopular after nearly nine years in power. Polls show the Liberals far behind the centre-right Conservatives, who blame Trudeau for rising prices and the housing crisis.
Trudeau insists he will lead the Liberals into an election due by the end of October 2025, but some MPs have broken ranks and called for a change at the top.
Alexandra Menendez, a Liberal MP representing a Quebec riding, said last week that many of her constituents want Trudeau to step down.
The Liberals did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the special election results. Shortly before votes were counted in Montreal, a senior Liberal leader said Trudeau would remain in office regardless of the outcome.
The party also fared poorly in a second special election in Elmwood-Transcona in central Manitoba. The New Democrats retained their seats while the Liberals received just 5 per cent of the vote, compared to 15 per cent in the 2021 election.
In that election, the Liberals won the Montreal seat with 43% of the vote, ahead of the Bloc’s 22% and the New Democratic Party (NDP)’s 19%.
Opinion polls show the Liberals will suffer a crushing defeat at the hands of Pierre Pliuyev’s Conservatives in the next federal election. Last week’s Leger poll showed the Conservatives had 45 per cent public support, a rare national approval rating in Canada, with the Liberals in second place at 25 per cent.
Trudeau’s approval ratings have fallen as voters grapple with a housing crisis caused by the rising cost of living and a surge in the arrival of temporary residents, including foreign students and workers.
In June, the Liberals lost a safe seat in a special election in Toronto.
Poliyev has promised to cut federal carbon taxes, which he says make life unaffordable, and last week vowed to curb immigration restrictions until more homes are built. Liberals acknowledged the polls look grim, but said as the election nears they will redouble their efforts to paint Pliev as a supporter of former President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement.
Poliyev, a fast-talking career politician who often insults his opponents, also said he would cancel funding of Canada’s public broadcaster CBC. In April, he was expelled from the House of Commons for calling Trudeau “crazy.”
