Stakes high as parties jostle in byelections

Tories threaten NDP’s Winnipeg stronghold, Trudeau not included on Montreal candidate's signs

- RAISA PATEL

A pair of byelections on Monday are poised to serve as a referendum on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau - and his chief opposition leaders.

One will see the Liberals fighting to spare a Montreal fortress from the fate that befell Toronto-St.

Paul's: a surprise byelection loss in a longtime stronghold.

In LaSalle-Émard-Verdun, Trudeau's embattled party is fending off strong campaigns from the New Democrats and the Bloc Québécois in a race that will test whether voters will turn to the NDP's Jagmeet Singh following his achievements under his now-lapsed alliance with the minority Liberals.

But in Winnipeg, Singh is contending with a compelling challenge of his own amid a Conservative offensive in Elmwood-Transcona, a riding the New Democrats have largely held since it appeared on the electoral map 36 years ago.

That battle has morphed into a fight for the working class: an issue central to both Singh and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's pitches to Canadians is that each is the clearest alternative to the Liberals.

Trudeau called the byelections back in July, after former justice minister David Lametti, who handily held the Montreal riding since its creation in 2015, left federal politics after he was dropped from cabinet last year.

Former NDP MP Daniel Blaikie triggered the race in ElmwoodTranscona after he left the federal NDP this year to advise Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew.

Advanced voting for both races ended Sept. 9, with remaining voters heading to the polls on Monday.