Langley, British Columbia –
In a further blow to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party, the federal Conservative Party won a by-election in British Columbia, riding Cloverdale-Langley.
Tamara Jansen returns to Ottawa as the MP she last represented from 2019 to 2021, the third seat the ruling Liberal Party lost in this year’s by-election.
Mr. Janssen faced calls for his resignation Monday after Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland resigned from the cabinet on the day Mr. Trudeau was scheduled to release his fall economic statement, the same day Mr. Trudeau was visiting Ottawa. won a seat in
Jansen defeated five others in the poll, including Liberal candidate Madison Fleischer and NDP representative Vanessa Sharma.
CLOVERDALE — The city of Langley in the Fraser Valley east of Vancouver has seenawed between the Liberals and Conservatives in recent elections, with Jansen defeating Liberal John Alder in 2019 and Alder in a rematch in 2021. returned to the Diet.
Alderg resigned earlier this year to run for the NDP in October’s Langley-Abbotsford provincial election, but lost to the B.C. Conservative Party.
All three provincial races in Langley were won by the BC Conservatives, but there is no official relationship with the federal Conservatives.
The by-election was the third test for the Trudeau government, which lost two long-held seats in by-elections in other parts of Canada earlier this year.
In September, the federal Liberal Party lost a Bloc Quebecois by-election in Montreal in the races of LaSalle, Aimard and Verdun. This loss came after an unexpected loss in Toronto vs. St. Louis. Paul will be elected as a Conservative Party candidate in a by-election in June.
Following a series of defeats in by-elections, dismal polling numbers, and Freeland’s resignation from the Cabinet, there are growing calls for Trudeau to resign as leader, both inside and outside his caucus.
Mr Freeland said in Monday’s letter that he had to resign from the cabinet because the prime minister had lost confidence in him after resisting decisions that increased the budget deficit far beyond what he had previously promised.
Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, whose caucus has supported the minority Liberal Party in key votes, called on Prime Minister Trudeau to resign as Liberal leader.
“All options are on the table,” Singh said, but declined to say whether he was prepared to overthrow the minority government.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 16, 2024.