Conservatives win B.C. federal byelection amid turmoil in Ottawa

LANGLEY, B.C. — In another blow to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals, the federal Conservatives have won a byelection in the British Columbia riding of Cloverdale-Langley City.

Tamara Jansen is returning to Ottawa as MP for the riding which she last represented from 2019 to 2021, marking the third seat lost by the governing Liberals in a byelection this year.

Jansen won her seat Monday on the same day Trudeau was in Ottawa facing calls to resign after Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland stepped down from cabinet on the day she was to deliver a fall economic statement.

Jansen defeated five other people on the ballot including Liberal candidate Madison Fleischer and Vanessa Sharma, who was representing the NDP.

Cloverdale—Langley City in the Fraser Valley east of Vancouver has see-sawed between the Liberals and Conservatives in recent elections, with Jansen unseating Liberal John Aldag in 2019 before a 2021 rematch saw Aldag return as MP.

Aldag quit this year to run in October’s provincial election for the NDP in Langley-Abbotsford, but he was defeated by a B.C. Conservative.

All three provincial ridings in Langley were won by the B.C. Conservatives, who have no official relationship with the federal Conservatives.

The byelection was a third test for the Trudeau government that lost two long-held seats in byelections elsewhere in Canada earlier this year.

In September the federal Liberals lost a byelection to the Bloc Québécois in the Montreal riding of LaSalle—Émard—Verdun. The loss came after unexpectedly losing Toronto—St. Paul’s to the Conservatives in a byelection in June.

The successive byelection losses, dismal poll numbers and now Freeland’s cabinet exit have inspired public calls from inside and outside of Trudeau’s caucus for him to resign as party leader.

Freeland said in a letter Monday that she had to step down from cabinet because the prime minister lost faith in her after she fought back against decisions that ballooned the deficit far past what she previously pledged.

Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, whose caucus has supported the minority Liberals in key votes, called on Trudeau to step down as Liberal leader.

Singh said “all options are on the table,” but would not say if he was ready to bring down the minority government.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 16, 2024.

Ashley Joannou, The Canadian Press