Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau‘s Liberal Party was handed another loss at the ballot box on Monday.
Louis-Philippe Sauvé won on the Bloc Québécois’ ticket to represent LaSalle-Émard-Verdun in parliament against Trudeau’s personally endorsed candidate, Liberal Laura Palestini.
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The race was a tight one, with Sauvé taking in 28 percent of the vote. The Bloc Québécois candidate beat the Liberal candidate by less than 250 votes according to Elections Canada results.
“Obviously it would have been nicer to be able to win,” said Trudeau in Ottowa in a press conference Tuesday. “…But there’s more work to do.”
“The big thing is to make sure that Canadians understand the choice they get to make in the next election,” Trudeau added.
Trudeau has held the position of Prime Minister for nine years, meaning the Liberal Party has maintained power in the Canadian parliament for nearly a decade.
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In a recent Ipsos poll tracking the “best Prime Minister,” Canadians rate Trudeau at 26%. For comparison, Canada’s Conservative Party PM candidate Pierre Poilievre was given a 45% rating in the same poll.
The Liberal Party has lost other by-elections over the course of the summer. Toronto-St. Paul’s fell from being considered a Liberal stronghold in June when the Conservatives won the seat by a hair.
Original article source: Canadian PM Trudeau says ‘there’s more work to do’ as his party loses long-held seat in Quebec