Justin Trudeau's Party Loses Closely-Watched Montreal By-Election

Canada's ruling Liberal Party lost a long-held parliamentary seat in Montreal on Tuesday, a sign of mounting trouble for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The loss marks the second high-profile defeat for Trudeau, who has held the top elected office in Canada since 2015, after a Conservative party candidate won a June by-election in the Toronto area.

Monday's election in the LaSalle-Emard-Verdun district of Montreal was won by Bloc Quebecois candidate Louis-Philippe Sauve, who received 28% of the votes compared to 27.2% cast for Liberal Party candidate Laura Palestini, according to Elections Canada.

"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 to reporters Tuesday in response to the election results.

The election was notable for having 91 candidates on the ballot, although most were not running serious campaigns; rather, they signed up for the race as a show of protest for the Longest Ballot Committee, an activist group which seeks electoral reforms in Canada.

Trudeau and the Liberal Party face all-time low popularity after nine years in power, with Conservative party leader Pierre Poilievre leading Trudeau in polls.

According to a Leger poll conducted last week, Conservatives lead Liberals in voting intention 45% to 25%.

Elections must be called by October of next year.

Trudeau's government suffered a major setback this month when a minority leftwing party ended its coalition agreement with the Liberal Party, putting the latter at risk of losing confidence votes.

Despite the upheaval, experts believe elections will not be called in Canada until next spring instead of the upcoming fall or winter.

Trudeau said on Tuesday he plans to remain in office, saying there's "work we're going to continue to do."
 

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