(Ottawa and Montreal) The Liberal stronghold of LaSalle–Émard–Verdun has fallen: at the end of a thrilling race that ended in the early hours of the morning, Bloc Québécois candidate Louis-Philippe Sauvé was crowned the winner.
What you need to know
Voters in two ridings, LaSalle–Émard–Verdun in Montreal and Elmwood–Transcona in Manitoba, were called to the polls in by-elections.
The spotlight was on LaSalle–Émard–Verdun, a stronghold that the Liberals lost to the Bloc.
In Montreal, the counting took longer than expected due to the record number of candidates.
The counting went much more smoothly in the riding of Elmwood–Transcona, where the NDP candidate managed to keep the keys to this orange castle. But most eyes were on southwest Montreal.
The Bloc candidate won with 28% of the vote, more than 200 votes ahead of his closest rival, Liberal Laura Palestini (27.2%). Craig Sauvé of the New Democratic Party won 26.1% of the vote. Among the main parties, the Conservative Party and its candidate Louis Ialenti (11.6%) brought up the rear.
While the Bloc initially considered this by-election as a “platform” to allow it to talk about its ideas, it instead won its first victory in the West Island of Montreal. Louis-Philippe Sauvé thus joins Mario Beaulieu as the second Bloc MP for the metropolis in the House of Commons.
The counting of advance ballots was allowed to begin earlier than usual, to avoid a repeat of the Toronto–St. Paul’s fiasco a little over three months ago. The outcome was not known until early in the morning and there too, the Liberals had lost one of their strongholds.
However, the results have once again been trickle-down. Some supporters even took to knitting at the Bloc Québécois rally.
The length of the process sent activists from most parties through a range of emotions, as candidates Louis-Philippe Sauvé, Laura Palestini and Craig Sauvé traded positions and podium configurations throughout the evening.
The origin of the ballots counted seems to have contributed greatly to this. While Verdun votes more for the New Democratic Party (NDP), Ville-Émard and Côte-Saint-Paul are more inclined to the Bloc, and LaSalle seems to be a pool of Liberal votes.
“Not a bastion”
The simple fact that a victory in the riding of LaSalle–Émard–Verdun was not a given was evidence of the precariousness of the situation for the Liberals. The incumbent, David Lametti, had won the last three elections decisively with more than 40% of the vote.
Yet there were very few in the Liberal ranks on Monday who predicted a victory for candidate Laura Palestini – there were attempts to lower expectations, arguing that the riding was not “a stronghold” and that the results would be close.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Laura Palestini tries to keep the riding of LaSalle–Émard–Verdun liberal
Rather unusually, the Liberal MP candidate spoke after only 2% of the ballots had been counted.
Shortly before midnight, it was the turn of his NDP opponent, Craig Sauvé, to address the activists. He welcomed “this dream campaign,” which he said demonstrates that “the NDP is competitive in Montreal.”
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Craig Sauvé during his speech
Bloc Québécois activists, confident throughout the evening, were gathered on the second floor of the Le Trèfle tavern, on Wellington Street, in a room that was a little too small for the number of activists who showed up.
Given the time at which the final results were announced, the main interested party was unable to comment on his victory, instead giving a speech around 00:30 – which he concluded with the Latin phrase “omnia vincit amor” (love will conquer).
According to Jeremy Ghio, a former Liberal government strategist now a director at the firm Tact Conseil, the victory is more of a message to the Liberals.
“This result was not on many people’s bingo cards. The first to be surprised by the result is probably the Bloc candidate himself. […] “Although I don’t think this riding will remain in the hands of the Bloc Québécois for long, the message from voters is more for Justin Trudeau than for the Bloc Québécois,” he said.
Long bulletin, long counting
The delays in announcing the results were due to the record number of candidates on the ballot paper. There were 91 candidates on it, the vast majority (77) of whom were activists from the Committee for the Longest Ballot Paper, a pressure group that campaigns for electoral reform.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY ELECTIONS CANADA
Elections Canada had to change the layout of the ballot so that all candidates could be included.
If the LaSalle–Émard–Verdun by-election attracted more attention than the other election held Monday, it was because the Liberals had something to lose in Montreal. In Manitoba, it was the New Democrats who were in danger of losing a stronghold. It seems they had the upper hand over the Conservatives, who conceded victory shortly after midnight.
The riding of Elmwood–Transcona (formerly Winnipeg–Transcona) was represented for nearly 30 years by the late New Democrat Bill Blaikie before passing to his son Daniel Blaikie, under the same banner.