‘I hear your concerns’: Trudeau reflects on devastating byelection loss

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau heard the “concerns and frustrations” of voters, he said Tuesday, after losing a Toronto-area riding that the Liberals have held for more than three decades.

His party, pollsters and even Conservatives had considered Toronto-St. Paul’s to be a relatively safe seat for the Liberals, as voters headed to the polls to vote in Monday’s byelection.

But by the wee hours of Tuesday, the Conservative candidate took a narrow lead and clinched the seat — the first time the Tories have won in Toronto proper since 2011.

The upset has sparked questions about the political prospects of Trudeau and his Liberals.

“These are not easy times, and it is clear I, and my entire Liberal team, have much more work to do to deliver tangible, real progress that Canadians can see and feel,” Trudeau said at a press conference in British Columbia, where he did not take questions.

“We’ll never stop working and fighting to make sure people have what they need to get through these tough times. My focus is on your success, and that’s where it’s going to stay.”

The statement appeared to pour water on any speculation that the prime minister plans to resign as party leader.

In a separate press conference in Toronto, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland expressed her support for the prime minister and his ability to carry the party into the next election.

She wouldn’t reflect on the reasons for the loss.

“We know that these are hard times for Canadians, we know that we have to work hard to earn back their trust,” she said.

The Liberal party issued a generic statement that thanked candidate Leslie Church and her volunteers for their hard work and acknowledged that the party knew the byelection would be a tough race.

Meanwhile, Liberal MPs have been almost eerily silent in the aftermath of the loss, allowing their cellphones to ring directly to voice mail and pausing social-media posts.

“I have no interest in playing any role in this feeding frenzy,” said Nova Scotia Liberal MP Sean Casey when The Canadian Press reached him and asked for his reaction to the results.

Though pollsters and political watchers have been keen to expound on what the byelection says about the Liberals’ prospects in the next general election, Toronto Liberal MP John McKay suggested the conditions may have been unique to the riding.

He said he did some door-knocking one afternoon for the campaign in a Jewish community in the riding, and found that previous Liberal voters who supported Israel were planning to vote Conservative.

“I come away from it saying to myself that, really, this was a referendum on Israel as much as anything else, and unhappiness with Trudeau kind of played in the background,” McKay said Tuesday, noting the massive impact of the Israel-Hamas war on domestic politics.

“The double-whammy effect of that puts the Conservative candidate over the top. I don’t think it’s a huge love affair with Poilievre.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 25, 2024.

Laura Osman and Mickey Djuric, The Canadian Press