The Liberal Party Monday night lost a byelection Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called “an important moment” for Canada, per Blacklock’s Reporter. Montréalers voted Bloc Québécois candidate Louis-Philippe Sauvé, a longtime political aide, as the member of parliament for LaSalle-Émard-Verdun by 248 votes. The riding was a once-safe Liberal seat.“This victory is historic,” Bloc leader Yves-François Blanchet said after ballots were counted. Liberals in the last general election won the riding by 9,023 votes. The Prime Minister and more than a third of his cabinet, a total 15 ministers, personally campaigned in the must-win riding for Liberal candidate Laura Palestini, a Montréal city councillor.“This byelection is really going to be an important moment of choice for Canadians and indeed for Montréalers,” Trudeau told reporters last Friday.“As a Montréaler I know how important it is to make progressive choices for the future.”“I can’t wait for the conversations we’re having in LaSalle-Émard-Verdun. I can’t wait to welcome Laura Palestini to Ottawa.”The byelection was prompted by the abrupt January 25 resignation of MP David Lametti, former attorney general. Lametti quit two days after the Federal Court found he broke the law in invoking emergency powers against peaceful 2022 Freedom Convoy protesters.The upset marked the second byelection loss of a formerly safe Liberal seat this summer. Toronto-St. Paul’s on June 24 voted Conservative for the first time since 1988. Newly-elected MP Don Stewart, a former Bay Street executive, on Monday took his seat in the Commons.A second byelection last night in Winnipeg saw New Democrats hold Elmwood-Transcona. Party candidate Leila Dance, a community organizer, won by 1,158 votes over Conservative candidate Colin Reynolds, an electrician.NDP leader Jagmeet Singh called it a “big victory for working families” in the riding. “Our movement is growing and we’re going to keep working,” he said.The Manitoba result followed Singh’s formal September 4 repudiation of a Supply And Confidence Agreement to keep cabinet in office for another nine months. “The NDP is ready for an election,” Singh said at the time.Turnout in Monday night’s byelections averaged 39%. The Liberal Party last won a federal byelection 15 months ago, electing MPs Ben Carr (Winnipeg South Centre), chair of the House affairs committee, and Anna Gainey (Notre-Dame-de-Grace, QC).
