Conservative Don Stewart won the Toronto-St. Paul byelection Monday night, in a race that legacy media so anticipated a Liberal win, some early reports falsely claimed they did. Recent polls for the federal byelection showed the riding’s long-time Liberal candidate Leslie Church, who is the former chief of staff for Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was expected to win by a slight margin. Elections officials counted ballots into the early morning, and found the Conservatives maintained a lead of more than 590 votes, per Blacklock’s Reporter. Voter turnout was 43.5%. A total of 15,555 votes went to Stewart, 42.1% and 14,965 to Church, 40.5%, with NDP candidate Amrit Parhar and Green Party candidate Christian Cullis landing in a distant third and fourth, per CTV.At around midnight, Stewart spoke to his supporters and campaign team, telling them to "not give it up” and "bring it home,” per the Canadian Press. At approximately the same time, Church said the Liberals felt "great about the result, but we’re not quite there yet."Ottawa media jumped the gun in reporting the Liberal win. “A win’s a win,” said Paul Wells, pundit and Trudeau author, per Blacklock’s Reporter, congratulating “the new Liberal MP for Toronto-St. Paul’s” on Substack. “The Trudeau team will show new spring in its step as it prepares to get, once more, off the ropes and back in the fray,” Wells wrote.“Trudeau is staying. Over to you, Liberal incumbents.”The iPolitics news agency, formerly owned by the Toronto Star, mistakenly declared Liberals the winners too.“Liberals Retain Toronto-St. Paul’s In Closely Fought Byelection,” read the now-deleted headline.Conservative deputy leader Melissa Lantsman congratulated her party for the hard work in securing the Toronto seat, widely perceived as a Liberal stronghold before the Tory win. “Congratulations to the team… and to the unwavering leadership of Pierre Poilievre,” Lantsman wrote on social media. “Thank you most of all to the voters of Toronto - St. Paul’s.”Freeland on Monday told voters the election represents "a choice between two visions of Canada, two sets of values.""I'm really calling on the people of St. Paul's to go out there and vote for [Church] because the alternative is really cold, and cruel, and small. The alternative is cuts and austerity, not believing in ourselves as a country, not believing in our communities and in our neighbors," Freeland said, per CTV.Stewart will take his seat in the House of Commons once parliament resumes in September..This is what the Western Standard is up againstThe Trudeau government is funding lies and propaganda by directly subsidizing the mainstream media. They do this to entrench the powerful Eastern, woke and corrupt interests that dominate the political, social and economic institutions in Canada. Federal authorities are constantly trying to censor us and stop us from publishing the stories that they don’t want you to read. Ottawa may weaponize our taxes and police against us, but we’ve got a powerful ally on our side.You. Free men, and free women. We need you to stand with us and become a member of the Western Standard. Here’s what you will get for your membership:Unlimited access to all articles from the Western Standard, Alberta Report, West Coast Standard, and Saskatchewan Standard, with no paywall. Our daily newsletter delivered to your inbox. .Access to exclusive Member-only WS events.Keep the West’s leading independent media voice strong and free.If you can, please support us with a monthly or annual membership. It takes just a moment to set up, and you will be making a big impact on keeping one the last independent media outlets in Canada free from Ottawa’s corrupting influence.
Conservative Don Stewart won the Toronto-St. Paul byelection Monday night, in a race that legacy media so anticipated a Liberal win, some early reports falsely claimed they did. Recent polls for the federal byelection showed the riding’s long-time Liberal candidate Leslie Church, who is the former chief of staff for Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was expected to win by a slight margin. Elections officials counted ballots into the early morning, and found the Conservatives maintained a lead of more than 590 votes, per Blacklock’s Reporter. Voter turnout was 43.5%. A total of 15,555 votes went to Stewart, 42.1% and 14,965 to Church, 40.5%, with NDP candidate Amrit Parhar and Green Party candidate Christian Cullis landing in a distant third and fourth, per CTV.At around midnight, Stewart spoke to his supporters and campaign team, telling them to "not give it up” and "bring it home,” per the Canadian Press. At approximately the same time, Church said the Liberals felt "great about the result, but we’re not quite there yet."Ottawa media jumped the gun in reporting the Liberal win. “A win’s a win,” said Paul Wells, pundit and Trudeau author, per Blacklock’s Reporter, congratulating “the new Liberal MP for Toronto-St. Paul’s” on Substack. “The Trudeau team will show new spring in its step as it prepares to get, once more, off the ropes and back in the fray,” Wells wrote.“Trudeau is staying. Over to you, Liberal incumbents.”The iPolitics news agency, formerly owned by the Toronto Star, mistakenly declared Liberals the winners too.“Liberals Retain Toronto-St. Paul’s In Closely Fought Byelection,” read the now-deleted headline.Conservative deputy leader Melissa Lantsman congratulated her party for the hard work in securing the Toronto seat, widely perceived as a Liberal stronghold before the Tory win. “Congratulations to the team… and to the unwavering leadership of Pierre Poilievre,” Lantsman wrote on social media. “Thank you most of all to the voters of Toronto - St. Paul’s.”Freeland on Monday told voters the election represents "a choice between two visions of Canada, two sets of values.""I'm really calling on the people of St. Paul's to go out there and vote for [Church] because the alternative is really cold, and cruel, and small. The alternative is cuts and austerity, not believing in ourselves as a country, not believing in our communities and in our neighbors," Freeland said, per CTV.Stewart will take his seat in the House of Commons once parliament resumes in September..This is what the Western Standard is up againstThe Trudeau government is funding lies and propaganda by directly subsidizing the mainstream media. They do this to entrench the powerful Eastern, woke and corrupt interests that dominate the political, social and economic institutions in Canada. Federal authorities are constantly trying to censor us and stop us from publishing the stories that they don’t want you to read. Ottawa may weaponize our taxes and police against us, but we’ve got a powerful ally on our side.You. Free men, and free women. We need you to stand with us and become a member of the Western Standard. Here’s what you will get for your membership:Unlimited access to all articles from the Western Standard, Alberta Report, West Coast Standard, and Saskatchewan Standard, with no paywall. Our daily newsletter delivered to your inbox. .Access to exclusive Member-only WS events.Keep the West’s leading independent media voice strong and free.If you can, please support us with a monthly or annual membership. It takes just a moment to set up, and you will be making a big impact on keeping one the last independent media outlets in Canada free from Ottawa’s corrupting influence.