Liberals hold on to NDG-Westmount seat in federal byelection
Anna Gainey to fill seat left vacant by Marc Garneau's retirement
Liberal Anna Gainey has won the federal byelection in the Montreal riding of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce–Westmount.
The seat was left vacant when former Liberal cabinet minister Marc Garneau retired in March from a political career that spanned 14 years.
Gainey spoke to her supporters Monday night during a small celebration.
"I am humbled by your confidence in me," she said. "It is an absolute privilege to serve the community and I thank you for your trust."
She also thanked the volunteers who helped her with the campaign.
"You worked so hard, giving so much time and energy over these last few weeks," she said.
Gainey served as a policy advisor to two ministers of national defence and veterans affairs, and as president of the federal Liberal party. Most recently, she has been executive chair of a think tank, Canada 2020.
Gainey has also served on the boards of several local and national volunteer organizations, including WarChild Canada, the Pointe-à-Callière Museum, and the Fondation de l'Institut de Cardiologie de Montréal.
She is also founder of the Gainey Foundation, which provides funding for environmental and arts education programs for youth, her profile says on the Liberal Party's website.
There were 10 candidates on the ballot in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce–Westmount, including Jonathan Pedneault for the Green Party, Jean-François Filion for the NDP, and Conservative Mathew Kaminski. The full list of candidates can be found here.
Pedneault is a human rights activist, former journalist and deputy leader of the Green Party. Filion is a long-time English teacher and a member of the Committee of Relations with Indigenous People. Kaminski has work experience in public audit and institutional investment accounting.
The polls opened at 9:30 a.m. and closed at 9:30 p.m.
There were over 73,000 eligible voters in NDG–Westmount. By 8 a.m. Tuesday, Gainey had 50 per cent of the 21,721 votes. All 204 polls have reported.
The riding is a longtime Liberal stronghold. Before retiring, Garneau had held the seat since 2008 when the riding was known as Westmount–Ville-Marie. Its name and boundaries were changed in 2015.
Garneau won the riding with over 50 per cent of the vote in the last three general elections.
Before him, another former Liberal cabinet minister, Lucienne Robillard, represented Westmount–Ville-Marie from 1997 until she resigned her seat in 2008.
NDG-Westmount is one of four federal ridings that byelections on Monday. The results can be found here.