Liberals suffer surprise defeat in downtown Toronto riding
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Daly
The Liberals lost a by-election in Toronto-St. Paul’s, Ont., on Monday.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals suffered a surprise by-election defeat in the paty’s stronghold riding of Toronto-St. Paul’s.
Conservative Party candidate Don Stewart won 42.1 per cent of the votes cast, versus 40.5 per cent for Liberal candidate Leslie Church, according to preliminary results posted on the Elections Canada website, with all polls reporting.
The Liberals had held the riding since 1993, winning by 23 percentage points in the last election.
The loss will stoke concern within Liberal circles that the governing party may be headed for a historic defeat in the next election. Trudeau’s Liberals have trailed in recent polls by as much as 20 percentage points.
The defeat in a downtown Toronto riding will also amp pressure on Trudeau to step down, even though the Liberal leader has been adamant he plans to lead his party into the next election.
