Bloc gains momentum after snatching Montreal riding from Liberals
Once safe Liberal seat in LaSalle—Émard—Verdun riding falls to Bloc's Louis-Philippe Sauvé
Despite results trickling in until almost 3 a.m., Louis-Philippe Sauvé was awake to watch himself narrowly squeak into first place to win the race for a hotly contested riding in the southwestern section of Montreal.
LaSalle—Émard—Verdun, a riding that's been held by the Liberals for most of the last century, fell to the Bloc Québécois candidate in Monday's federal byelection after a three-way nail-biter.
"It was a rollercoaster night. I had many emotions," said Sauvé at a news conference Tuesday morning, alongside Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet.
"I'm a bit exhausted, I've only slept for three hours, but today … I'm feeling grateful towards the people in my neighbourhood of having chosen me as their MP and I will do everything to work with dignity for them."
Blanchet said he was "extremely pleased" and honoured by the confidence the constituents of the riding placed in his candidate and his party. But now, the real work begins.
[Sauvé] will demonstrate to the people that they've made the right choice. And he will be a present, engaged and very determined MP."
Sauvé, a former Parliament Hill staffer, beat Liberal Laura Palestini by just 248 votes, and NDP candidate and locally known city councillor Craig Sauvé finished third.
The Bloc's byelection victory gives the party significant momentum heading into a federal election that could be called at any moment and deals another crushing blow to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberals.
The leading candidates traded places throughout the count, with a final result coming in after 2:45 a.m. Tuesday. Voter turnout was just over 39 per cent — about 10 percentage points higher than in the federal byelection in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce–Westmount last year.
Ahead of his official win, Sauvé addressed his supporters gathered at an Irish pub in the Verdun neighbourhood.
"Tonight, no matter what happens, we lose, we win together!" he said, setting off a burst of boisterous applause.
The party began celebrating before the final votes were tallied, with members serenading Sauvé with a rendition of Gens du pays — Quebec's de facto anthem.
Asked at Tuesday's news conference how he plans to represent all residents in the riding despite his narrow victory, Sauvé answered simply.
"I'll be a member of Parliament for every citizen of this riding. And I'm going to work for those who voted for me and those who voted against me alike. That's what representing people is all about," he said.
He said his first task will be to staff his office so he can begin responding to the needs of residents, including issues related to housing, homelessness, pensions for seniors, French integration and sovereignty.
The Montreal seat opened up when former justice minister David Lametti left politics in January. The outgoing Liberal MP beat his Bloc opponent by some 20 points in this riding in 2021. Palestini lost by less than one percentage point.
'Extra wind in its sails'
Blanchet said he believes his party won because voters wanted to support the Bloc and are fed up with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
He believes the Liberal government's days are numbered but says that doesn't mean his party will strive to bring the government down.
"We want to advance important issues for Quebec, we have a golden opportunity right now," he said.
Blanchet says it would be irresponsible for him to not try to get the Liberals to adhere to some of the Bloc's demands before the next election.
Responding to a question in English, Blanchet said picking up this seat helps "create a bridge" between the Bloc, Montrealers and the rest of Quebec — putting the party in a good position to steal more votes away from the Liberals on the island of Montreal if an election is called.
"If what we say and what we think is more precisely carried to the English community, this city will feel better, will fare better," he said.
More than half (about 58 per cent) of the riding's residents are francophones, according to census data, while about a quarter of the residents — roughly 23 per cent — list English as their mother tongue. The LaSalle portion of the seat has a sizeable Italian-Canadian community.
Dónal Gill, a professor of political science at Concordia University, says he cannot overstate what a major disaster this loss is for Trudeau's government — and what a boost it gives the Bloc.
"If you can't win in the deep red heartlands of Montreal, all those marginal possible Liberal seats in the rest of the country … it's real dreamland stuff rather than real targets to be acquired," he said.
Gill said the Bloc has been led "incredibly competently" under Blanchet since the party made its big electoral comeback in 2019.
He expects the Bloc, with "extra wind in its sails," to extract maximum concessions out of the government on behalf of Quebec's interests over the next few months.
"They're going to be able to say that, 'The people of Quebec have have been clear they want us to deliver,'" he said.
"'You're in a position to do that. You want to stay in government? No problem, you know the price.'"
The Liberal defeat in Montreal comes less than two months after Conservative candidate Don Stewart bested his Liberal opponent in Toronto-St. Paul's.
Before that June loss, the riding had been held by the Liberals for more than 30 years.
'It represents what people want'
CBC News spoke with residents in the Ville-Émard neighbourhood outside Monk Metro station early Tuesday morning — most of whom were unaware they had a new local representative.
Amélie Côté said she's very surprised by the result, saying she didn't vote for the party, "but it represents what people want in the area."
She said the area needs someone who will listen to residents' needs and do more to solve the housing crisis.
Coralie Odell, a young, first-time voter, said she voted Bloc because of the party's commitment to protecting the French language.
"Too many people here speak English only and I feel like that's just a problem because we're a French province and I feel like that should be represented more," she said, speaking English with ease.
"The Bloc Québécois has our interest in mind."
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With files from Kwabena Oduro and Lauren McCallum