Justin Trudeau has won his Papineau riding in the centre of Montreal with 61.5 per cent of the vote (with 5.6 per cent of the polls reporting), despite both the NDP and Conservatives putting up star candidates to try and prevent an easy win by the Liberals.
The riding has historically been a Liberal stronghold. Liberal cabinet minister Pierre Pettigrew held the riding from 1997 until 2006, when he was defeated by Vivian Barbot for the Bloc Québécois. It was the Bloc’s only victory there, as Barbot was defeated by Trudeau in the next election.
In this election, Trudeau’s competition were two former Radio-Canada journalists: Anne Lagacé Dowson for the NDP, and Yvon Vadnais for the Conservatives. He was also up against the Bloc Quebecois’ Maxime Claveau, a music teacher and composer.
Neither was the original candidate for the riding, though. Conservative Chris Lloyd stepped down in May after he revealed he only wanted to “mess” with the party as part of a performance art project. Bétrice Zako resigned the NDP nomination in July, saying she did not want to be a distraction for the party, after comments she made comparing the Quebec sovereignty cause to the struggles African nations had for independence from European colonialism.
Trudeau made his final election push in Alberta and B.C. on Sunday, before casting his ballot with his wife Sophie and three kids in Montreal on Monday.
The son of former prime minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau has been a sitting MP since 2008. He’s led the Liberal party since April 2013.
Comments