Gilles Duceppe has once again lost the battle for the Laurier-Sainte-Marie riding in Montreal.
The Bloc Québécois leader was vying for the seat he held there for 21 years, but after a very tight race, it went to Hélène Laverdière — the NDP MP who ousted him in a big upset in 2011. In that election, Laverdière defeated Duceppe by 5,382 votes. This time she earned 36.6 per cent of the votes to his 29.1 per cent, with 68.3 per cent of the polls reporting.
Going into the race, the Bloc had just two out of 75 MPs in Quebec. As the results roll in, eight Bloc MPs have been elected and two others are leading.
The Bloc suffered a major blow in 2011, going from almost 50 seats to just four as Jack Layton’s orange wave ripped through the province. Duceppe was among the casualties. He was washed out of the Montreal riding that he’d held since a 1990 by-election.
READ MORE: Bloc Quebecois Leader didn’t feel like a rookie on the trail upon return
Going into the 2015 election race, Duceppe advised the NDP to focus its efforts elsewhere: “Let us beat Harper in Quebec and do your job in the rest of Canada – that would be of a great help.”
The NDP’s Laverdière has been an MP since 2011. She’s served as the Official Opposition critic for International Development and deputy critic for Foreign Affairs. Laverdière also served as foreign service officer to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1992. She was posted to various locations, including Washington, D.C., Dakar, Senegal and Santiago, Chile.
Upon returning to Montreal in 2007, she worked as a freelance translator, researcher and journalist before getting elected to the Laurier-Sainte-Marieas an MP in 2011.
The Liberals last won a seat there in 1988. The Conservatives, meanwhile, have never won in the riding since it was created in 1988.
The median age of 35.6 makes it the fourth youngest riding in the province.
Full results from the 2015 Federal Election.
More information about the Laurier-Sainte-Marie riding.
With files from The Canadian Press
Comments