Trudeau stays, but says he heard the “concerns”

Photo: Sean Kilpatrick The Canadian Press Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Parliament Hill, June 19

Émilie Bergeron – The Canadian Press

Published at 2:40 p.m.

• Canada

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday he has heard voters' “concerns” and “frustrations,” hours after his troops lost a seat to the Conservatives in a longtime Liberal stronghold. He has yet to send any signals that he plans to bow out.

“This is obviously not the result we wanted,” Mr. Trudeau said of the Liberal defeat in a by-election in the Ontario riding of Toronto–St. Paul's.

He first expressed this admission in writing, in a statement relayed by his office, then repeated it on microphone during a public appearance in Colombia -British. Mr. Trudeau did not make himself available to answer journalists' questions.

“I want to make it clear that I hear your concerns and your frustrations,” said – he said to the voters, from whom he said he received the message.

He indicated that he intends to “remain focused” on “successes » that he promises for these.

“The current situation is not easy. And it is clear that I and my entire Liberal team still have a lot of work to do to make tangible, real progress that Canadians can see and feel,” the Prime Minister argued.

Several observers of the federal political scene saw Monday evening's partial election as a test for Mr. Trudeau's leadership and as a potential indicator of the battle to come during the next general election.

Conservative candidate Don Stewart won by just 590 votes against Liberal Leslie Church in a morning upset, snatching a riding that the ruling Liberals had held for more than 30 years.

“This is a constituency that should have been predisposed towards what the liberal brand is. So this is absolutely a message that the Liberal Party of Canada cannot ignore,” believes Greg MacEachern, former strategist for political training.

In his opinion, it is still possible, between now and the next federal election, that Mr. Trudeau's troops will have a new leader if the latter were to change his mind.

According to Mr. MacEachern, one of the central questions for the Liberals will be to determine whether it is better to change leaders before or after the election. If all goes as planned, Canadians across the country will be called to the polls for a general election in the fall of 2025.

If the Liberals chose to find a successor to Mr. Trudeau before the next election campaign, “there is a chance that Canadians could say to themselves 'I was worried about the Conservative leader, but I wanted a change and, this way, I can vote Liberal and still have a change””, analyzes the ex-strategist.

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“But there is also the fact that a new leader would campaign on the previous mandate and record rather than establishing their own. »

Minister Soraya Martinez Ferrada, who will co-chair the Liberals' next electoral campaign, declined an interview request from The Canadian Press through her press secretary .

Regardless, Liberal MP John McKay believes dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Trudeau played a role in Monday's by-election, although he believes it was more “in the background.” . He said the war in the Middle East was a more defining issue.

“For this particular constituency, I think pro-Israel voters changed their vote , [moving it] from the liberal column to the conservative,” said the elected official for the Ontario riding of Scarborough–Guildwood in an interview.

Thus, there is no does not see “a huge love affair with Poilievre,” he summarized, referring to the Conservative leader.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland for his part maintained that “the Prime Minister […] has our support”, during a press briefing in Toronto.

“He mustn’t leave. The Prime Minister, like all members of our team, understands that we must continue to work hard to deliver for Canadians,” she said in French.

< p>In English, she repeatedly said that her government must work to “regain the trust” of the population.

“We must work harder strong and that’s what we’re going to do,” she concluded.

With information from Mickey Djuric and Michel Saba