Monday evening’s by-election results show a Conservative victory in the Manitoba riding of Portage–Lisgar.
Follow True North’s coverage of the Jun. 19 by-elections below:
Portage–Lisgar
Conservative candidate Branden Leslie will be the next MP to represent Portage–Lisgar after defeating People’s Party of Canada (PPC) leader Maxime Bernier.
With the current polls reported, the results of the by-election show that Leslie snagged the Manitoba riding with 64.9% of the vote.
Although Bernier failed to acquire the necessary support to return to the House of Commons, the PPC has 17.2%.
In the 2021 federal election, the PPC was able to receive 21.6% of the vote – one of its best results since the party was formed in 2018.
Portage–Lisgar was the former seat of interim Conservative leader Candice Bergen who stepped down from her role in 2023 after current Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre was elected to lead the party.
Prior to election day on Monday, Bernier and the Conservatives spent the lead up to the ballot trying to wrestle support from conservative-leaning voters on issues like support for gender ideology and ties with the World Economic Forum.
Bernier took to social media following his defeat to thank voters for their gain in support.
Meanwhile, Liberal candidate Kerry Smith won 8.5% of the vote, while the NDP’s Lisa Tessier-Burch with 7.1%.
Oxford
The Conservatives were also able to hold onto the riding of Oxford with candidate Arpan Khanna coming out with 43% of the vote.
Despite polls showing the Liberals gaining traction prior to the by-election, Liberal candidate David Hilderley received 36.2% on election night.
During the nomination process, the Conservative Party of Canada’s decision to disqualify Gerrit Van Dorland threw a wrench in what was expected to be a supremely safe election.
Critics of the move accused the party of ignoring the democratic process and turfing the former candidate for his socially conservative views.
As for the NDP candidate, Cody Groat, he was able to walk away with 10.5% of the vote.
PPC candidate Wendy Martin only received 3.7% while the Green Party’s Cheryle Baker won 3.3%.
Winnipeg South Centre
Liberal candidate Ben Carr has won the riding of Winnipeg South Centre.
Carr, who announced his candidacy after his late father and former MP, Jim Carr, passed away. He won with 55.5% of voters picking him on their ballot.
Conservative candidate Damir Stipanovic received 23.7% of the vote, while the NDP’s Julia Riddell came out with 14.5%.
Green Party and PPC candidates, Douglas Hemmerling and Tylor Baer, each received 2.7% and 1.3%, respectively.
Notre–Dame–de–Grâce–Westmount
Predictably, Liberal candidate Anna Gainey has won the Montreal riding of Notre–Dame–de–Grâce–Westmount.
The long-time Liberal insider came out on top with 50.8% of the vote in the seat of former Liberal MP and cabinet minister Marc Garneau.
Garneau announced in March that he would be resigning from his role and retiring from political life. Garneau held the seat since 2008.
Gainey was followed by Green Party candidate Jonathan Pedneault who received 13.8%.
Conservative candidate Matthew Kaminski managed to get 13.5% of the vote. While NDP and Bloc Quebecois candidates, Jean-Francois Filion and Laurence Massey, received 13.3% and 4.5% respectively.
