Trudeau says Liberals have 'a lot of work to do' after his party loses another byelection
Monday's defeat was the second byelection loss in a safe Liberal seat in the last three months
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday the party he leads has to take stock after voters handed the Liberals another humiliating byelection loss, this time in Montreal.
Speaking to reporters before meeting with his cabinet after the LaSalle-Émard-Verdun defeat, Trudeau said he's reflecting on why voters turned on the party and why some former Liberal supporters stayed home.
He said it isn't "fun" to come so close to a win and come up short.
"Obviously, it would have been nicer to be able to win and hold Verdun, but there's more work to do and we're going to stay focused on doing it," Trudeau said.
Bloc Québécois byelection candidate Louis-Philippe Sauvé beat Liberal Laura Palestini by a very narrow margin — a stunning upset, given the fact that this Montreal riding has been held by the Liberals for most of the last century.
Sauvé took 28 per cent of the vote, compared to 27.2 per cent for Palestini and 26.1 per cent for NDP candidate Craig Sauvé. Fewer than 250 votes separated the Bloc and Liberal candidates.
That third-place finish is a disappointment for NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, who was a frequent presence in the riding throughout the campaign.
The NDP held its caucus retreat in Montreal last week and some MPs took turns knocking on doors in an attempt to win a seat in a province that hasn't been fertile ground for the party in recent years.
But Singh's candidate narrowly won Elmwood-Transcona — a longtime safe NDP seat — after holding off a surging Conservative candidate in that working-class riding.
Singh told reporters the party's result in Winnipeg was a big win because it "showed Canadians we can beat Conservatives."
"People are done with the Liberals. They are done with Justin Trudeau. They are finished," Singh said while calling on all progressive voters to coalesce around his party.
"We've got a big fight in front of us but we can stop Conservative cuts," Singh added, while dodging questions about whether he will try to trigger a federal election this fall.
The Liberal standard-bearer in Winnipeg, Ian MacIntyre, posted one of the worst byelection results for a candidate from the governing party in Canadian history.
He got less than five per cent of the vote — a result too low to qualify him for an Elections Canada rebate of eligible campaign expenses.
Trudeau suggested turnout may have played a role in the party's loss. He said in French the party needs to "increase participation so that people can understand there's an important choice to be made in the next election."
"We need people to be more engaged, we need people to understand what's at stake in this upcoming election," he said.
Trudeau has tried to present himself and his government as a bulwark against Pierre Poilievre. Trudeau has accused the populist Conservative leader of planning to upend progress on social programs and the environment.
The turnout in LaSalle-Émard-Verdun was relatively high for a byelection — 40 per cent of registered voters showed up to cast a ballot. That's about 10 percentage points higher than the turnout in another Montreal byelection last year.
Turnout was about the same in this contest as it was in the June byelection in Toronto-St. Paul's — another seat the Liberals lost.
Earlier this month, the Liberal Party's campaign director quit and the NDP pulled the plug on the supply-and-confidence agreement that gave the government some breathing room in a minority Parliament.
The CBC's Poll Tracker shows the Conservatives have an 18-point lead nationwide. Liberal fortunes have been on a downward trajectory for the last 18 months.
Trudeau sidestepped questions about his own future today; he has said in the past he will carry on as prime minister and take the Liberals into the next federal election, no matter what happens.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller represents a neighbouring riding and stumped for the failed Liberal candidate.
"I'm taking it quite personally. The team really gave it our all," Miller said.
"The sun is going to rise tomorrow, it's going to set tonight and we intend to win it the next time."
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, another Montrealer, said she's disappointed. "This is not the result we were looking for," she said.
When asked how the Liberals can turn their fortunes around, Joly said, "We need to deliver on the priorities of Canadians."
Joly said the government needs to do more to address persistent affordability issues, adding rent and groceries are still too expensive.
"We'll have tough conversations," she said.
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said the Liberals can't lose hope or let up after this second byelection defeat.
"This is not a moment to get down, it's a moment to double down. We need to bring the energy, talk about possibilities and talk about the future of this country," he said.
Asked why Trudeau should stay on as prime minister, Champagne said Trudeau will offer "a positive vision" and "inspire Canadians" in the next general election.
He said voters will face a stark choice between Trudeau and Poilievre.
"The real issue in my view in the next election is, what kind of society do you want to live in?" Champagne said.
"When people are going to be voting, it's not about asking what is this vote going to do for me, but what is this vote going to do for the country."
While the Conservatives came up short in a potentially winnable Winnipeg seat, Poilievre touted his party's vote share increases in both byelections.
The Conservative vote was up 16 percentage points in Elmwood-Transcona and a more modest four per cent in the Montreal race compared to the 2021 general election — a sign Poilievre's popularity in opinion polls is translating into some success at the ballot box.
"Devastating results for Trudeau who voters deemed not worth the cost," Poilievre said in a social media post.
"After nine years, taxes up, costs up, crime's up and time's up."
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