Canada's Trudeau under fresh pressure after special election 'disaster'
By David Ljunggren
OTTAWA, June 25 (Reuters) -Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faced fresh questions about his political future on Tuesday after the ruling Liberal Party lost a safe seat in a special election, underlining his unpopularity.
Final results, released at about 5 am (1000 GMT), showed the officialopposition Conservatives had won the race in the Toronto-St Paul's constituency for first time since 1988. The election was called after the previous legislator quit.
The victory marked the first time since 2015 that the Conservatives had broken the Liberals' control of vote-rich Toronto, which is home to dozens of seats and key to Trudeau's hold on power.
"What a disaster for the Liberals," said Philippe Fournier, editor in chief of the 338Canada website, which models electoral projections across the country.
The next federal election must be held by October 2025 and a range of polls show the Liberals, who have been in power since November 2015, would lose badly to the Conservatives.
The loss indicates Liberals in less safe Toronto area seats might be vulnerable, underlining the challenge for Trudeau.
Some political commentators have mused that the Liberals might do better if they moved on from Trudeau, who has so far insisted he will fight the next election.
"Canadians are not in a decision mode right now," he told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp last week.
Names of potential leadership candidates include former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney and Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, a close Trudeau friend.
But unlike Britain and Australia, where the prime minister is elected by legislators and can be removed relatively easily, party leaders in Canada are chosen by special conventions which are held on fixed dates. It is therefore almost impossible to ditch a leader who does not want to leave.
Governments who have been in power for several years tend to do badly in special elections, which they usually attribute to low turnout and voters wishing to send a protest message.
But Darrell Bricker, CEO of Ipsos Public Affairs, noted that a relatively high 44% of voters had cast a ballot.
"This was a workday Monday in a riding that is a Toronto traffic nightmare. This shows a strong desire among voters to send a signal for change," he said in a social media post.
The Conservatives say they have four priorities: axing a carbon tax introduced by the Liberals, addressing the government's budget deficit, tackling a housing crisis and cracking down on crime.
The Liberal candidate was Leslie Church, former chief of staff to Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and a member of Trudeau's inner circle.
Despite a high profile campaign boosted by the visit of several top cabinet members, she won only 40.5% of the vote compared to 42.1% for the Conservative candidate. In the 2021 election, the Liberals won by 49% to 22%.
Trudeau's office was not immediately available for comment. His schedule for Tuesday did not show any media availabilities.
Reporting by David Ljunggren
Editing by Alistair Bell
Relaterade tillgångar
Senaste nytt
Ansvarsfriskrivning: XM Group-enheter tillhandahåller sin tjänst enbart för exekvering och tillgången till vår onlinehandelsplattform, som innebär att en person kan se och/eller använda tillgängligt innehåll på eller via webbplatsen, påverkar eller utökar inte detta, vilket inte heller varit avsikten. Denna tillgång och användning omfattas alltid av i) villkor, ii) riskvarningar och iii) fullständig ansvarsfriskrivning. Detta innehåll tillhandahålls därför uteslutande som allmän information. Var framför allt medveten om att innehållet på vår onlinehandelsplattform varken utgör en uppmaning eller ett erbjudande om att ingå några transaktioner på de finansiella marknaderna. Handel på alla finansiella marknader involverar en betydande risk för ditt kapital.
Allt material som publiceras på denna sida är enbart avsett för utbildnings- eller informationssyften och innehåller inte – och ska inte heller anses innehålla – rådgivning och rekommendationer om finansiella frågor, investeringsskatt eller handel, dokumentation av våra handelskurser eller ett erbjudande om, eller en uppmaning till, en transaktion i finansiella instrument eller oönskade finansiella erbjudanden som är riktade till dig.
Tredjepartsinnehåll, liksom innehåll framtaget av XM såsom synpunkter, nyheter, forskningsrön, analyser, kurser, andra uppgifter eller länkar till tredjepartssajter som återfinns på denna webbplats, tillhandahålls i befintligt skick, som allmän marknadskommentar, och utgör ingen investeringsrådgivning. I den mån som något innehåll tolkas som investeringsforskning måste det noteras och accepteras att innehållet varken har varit avsett som oberoende investeringsforskning eller har utarbetats i enlighet med de rättsliga kraven för att främja ett sådant syfte, och därför är att betrakta som marknadskommunikation enligt tillämpliga lagar och föreskrifter. Se till så att du har läst och förstått vårt meddelande om icke-oberoende investeringsforskning och riskvarning om ovannämnda information, som finns här.
