Montreal byelection: aspiring Liberal candidates say Trudeau's choice is 'undemocratic'

Laura Palestini, a city councillor in Montreal's LaSalle borough, will run as a Liberal Party candidate in the LaSalle-Émard-Verdun byelection. (Source: Liberty Party of Canada)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's decision to hand-pick a candidate for a riding in an upcoming Montreal byelection isn't being well-received by three aspiring contenders who spent months campaigning only to be shunted aside.

The Liberals announced Montreal city Coun. Laura Palestini last week as the party's candidate in a byelection whose date has yet to be announced for the riding of LaSalle—Émard—Verdun. The byelection must be called by July 30.

Three aspiring candidates -- local school commissioner Lori Morrison; entrepreneur Christopher Baenninger; and former Quebec Liberal party organizer Eddy Kara -- denounced the decision, with Morrison calling it "anti-democratic, 100 per cent."

Morrison said she couldn't believe the party let her knock on doors and sign up memberships only to ultimately abandon plans for a nomination meeting.

The nomination to become candidate in LaSalle--Emard--Verdun, Morrison said, was hotly contested because the riding "has been a Liberal stronghold for a very, very long time."

Liberal campaign co-chair Soraya Martinez Ferrada has said it was Trudeau's decision to prevent party members from choosing the candidate and to instead select Palestini, who represents the LaSalle borough on Montreal city council. Ferrada was on vacation and unavailable for comment Monday, her office said. The party declined to make anyone else available and instead provided a statement.

The Liberals have won the riding in all three elections since it was created, with former justice minister David Lametti re-elected with 42.9 per cent of the vote in 2021. The Bloc Quebecois candidate received almost half as many votes -- 22.1 per cent -- while the New Democratic Party and the Conservatives picked up 19.4 per cent and 7.5 per cent of the vote, respectively.

Lametti resigned on Jan. 31, after he was excluded from Trudeau's cabinet in last summer's reshuffle.

Baenninger said he was "in shock" at Trudeau's decision to forgo the nomination process and hand-pick a candidate, saying it was "not right" and "demotivating."

Morrison refused to say whether the party is respecting its values by disregarding a nomination vote; Baenninger, meanwhile, said the decision falls within the rules. The party's vetting committee, he explained, can reject any candidates in the best interest of the party.

However, Baenninger said, the party didn't do itself any favours by pushing three candidates aside in favour of Palestini. "I'm going to be shrewd: we didn't improve our chances. I'll leave it at that."

Trudeau's leadership has been under scrutiny since the party failed to retain the riding of Toronto--St. Paul's, a longtime Liberal bastion for more than three decades, that was won by the Conservatives on June 24. Nationally, the Liberals have been polling roughly 20 points behind the Tories led by Pierre Poilievre for more than one year.

Both Baenninger and Morrison said that before Palestini was announced by the party, they had never heard her name before.

Kara, a filmmaker and former provincial Liberal organizer, had the support of former Quebec finance minister Carlos Leitão and ex-MP Jean-Claude Poissant. He said it's "really shocking" that Trudeau interrupted the nomination process, adding that the party sent signals that members would choose the candidate, including by publishing a nomination kit.

He said he learned that the Liberals wanted someone of Italian origin to "ensure we get the Italian vote." Kara said three members of the Liberal Party executive confirmed to him that they were also considering appointing Daniela Romano, another municipal councillor in LaSalle.

According to 2016 census data, 8.2 per cent of the riding's residents are of Italian origin.

Palestini will face another municipal councillor in the byelection, as the NDP have named Craig Sauve, who represents the nearby Sud-Ouest borough on city council. The Conservatives will run Louis Ialenti, who the party describes as "a common-sense small business owner." The Bloc has not revealed its candidate.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 23, 2024.