Polls close for Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection

Posted June 24, 2024 8:33 pm.

Last Updated June 24, 2024 10:28 pm.

Results have started to pour in for the federal byelection for Toronto-St. Paul’s riding and the Liberals have a slight early lead.

Liberal candidate Leslie Church is holding a slight lead over Conservative Don Stewart with 20 polls reporting.

Church served as chief of staff to Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland while Stewart is a financial and marketing specialist. Amrit Parhar, a director with a non-profit, is currently in third, running for the NDP.

Elections Canada noted earlier that, due to the unusual size of the ballot, it could slow down the counting process.

There were seven dozen people on the ballot, which is almost a metre long. A protest group calling itself the Longest Ballot Committee stacked it with names to make a point about the first-past-the-post system being unfair. They did similar protests in byelections in Winnipeg a year ago and Mississauga in 2022.

Monday’s byelection was triggered by the resignation of former cabinet minister and long-time Liberal Party of Canada representative Carolyn Bennett back in January.

This race has been viewed by many as the latest test of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s leadership, raising additional questions about his future should the Liberals lose what has been a stronghold for the party.

Christian Cullis, a constituency and communications assistant for Ward 11 University–Rosedale Coun. Dianne Saxe served as the Green Party of Canada candidate.