Trudeau announces Sept. 16 byelections in ridings in Quebec, Manitoba

A by-election will be held on September 16 in the Montreal riding of LaSalle-Émard-Verdun to elect a successor to the former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, David Lametti, pictured here arriving on Parliament Hill on 8 June 2023. (The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Sunday that two by-elections would be called on Sept. 16 in the ridings of LaSalle-Émard-Verdun, Quebec, and Elmwood-Transcona, Manitoba.

In LaSalle-Émard-Verdun, the by-election is to elect a successor to the former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, David Lametti, who announced his retirement from politics in January. He had been excluded from cabinet six months earlier.

The riding of LaSalle-Émard-Verdun appears to be a Liberal stronghold. The Liberal Party has won all three elections held there since its creation.

In the last election, David Lametti was re-elected with 42.9 per cent of the vote, finishing well ahead of his opponents. The Bloc candidate won 22.1 per cent of the vote, the NDP candidate came third with 19.4 per cent and the Conservative candidate won 7.5 per cent. The People's Party candidate obtained 3.4 per cent and the Green Party candidate 3.0 per cent.

But as the results of the most recent by-election in Toronto-St. Paul's in June showed, the Liberals can no longer really rely on their strongholds. Liberal candidate Leslie Church was edged out by Conservative Don Stewart.

And things aren't looking any easier in LaSalle-Émard-Verdun.

A recent poll predicted a three-way race in this Montreal riding. According to the poll conducted by Mainstreet Research, the Liberal Party of Canada has 26.2 per cent of voter intentions - a drop of 16.7 points since the last election. The Bloc Québécois has 23.7 per cent, the NDP 23.3 per cent and the Conservative Party of Canada 11.9 per cent. Nearly 8.7 per cent of respondents said they were undecided.

The formidable task of keeping the riding in the Liberal fold has been entrusted to Montreal city councillor Laura Palestini. She will face another Montreal city councillor, Craig Sauvé, who will run for the NDP. The Conservatives have chosen entrepreneur Louis Ialenti, who ran unsuccessfully in the 2021 general election in the Saint-Léonard--Saint-Michel riding and the Bloc has just announced that Louis-Philippe Sauvé would be their candidate. 

The Manitoba riding was held by the NDP until MP Daniel Blaikie resigned in March to go work for the office of the province's Premier, Wab Kinew.

Blaikie had held the federal seat since the 2015 election

-This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on July 28, 2024.