Polls have closed in a Toronto byelection that has the potential to heap pressure on Prime Minister Justine Trudeau.
The riding of Toronto-St Paul’s has been held by the Liberals for almost three decades, with the midtown Toronto seat considered to be relatively safe for the Grits, even in years they weren’t in government.
Plummeting polling for Trudeau and his party at a national level, however, has raised questions about the seat, with political watchers wondering if the Conservatives can cause an upset and pile pressure on the prime minister.
The byelection was triggered after former MP Carolyn Bennett was appointed as ambassador to Denmark, forcing her to resign the seat. She had held it personally for more than 25 years, winning 10 elections in the process.
The Liberals nominated long-time staffer Leslie Church to replace her, while the Conservatives picked financial professional Don Stewart as their candidate. Amrit Parhar is standing for the NDP and Christian Cullis for the Greens.
A total of 84 candidates are on the ballot, largely because of a protest by the Longest Ballot Committee against the first-past-the-post voting system. In a social media post on Monday evening, Elections Canada said the length of the ballot meant results “may take a bit longer than usual to come in.”
Locally, the governing party has been fighting against national frustration with the party that has been in government since 2015 and surging support for the Conservatives.
A poll conducted by Ipsos for Global News suggested Trudeau’s waning popularity appears to be “dragging” the Liberals’ fortunes down.
A majority of voters (68 per cent) want him to step down, with Ipsos CEO Darrell Bricker describing the numbers as “close to rock bottom,” while Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is gaining ground.
That poll put the Conservatives at 42 per cent of the decided vote, with the Liberals at 24 per cent. The Ontario NDP recorded support at 18 per cent.
Almost half — 44 per cent — said they felt Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre would make the best prime minister, while 75 per cent of Canadians want another party to take government from the Liberals. Just 25 per cent think the Liberals “deserve reelection.”
Bricker said that the polling numbers haven’t improved despite a flurry of new policies attempted by the government.
“What’s worse is that they have thrown everything they can think of at changing this dynamic,” Bricker said. “Nothing has worked. It’s frozen in solid.”
— with files from Global News’ Touria Izri
More on Politics
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.