Byelections stick to script: Liberals lead in Ontario, Montreal; Tories in Calgary

The federal Liberals appear to be pulling away from their Conservative rivals in the Toronto-area riding of Markham-Thornhill, where early byelection results were proving closer than expected. (Photo: Mary Ng/Facebook)

OTTAWA — The federal Liberals appear to be pulling away from their Conservative rivals in the Toronto-area riding of Markham-Thornhill, where early byelection results were proving closer than expected.

With about half the polls reporting Monday, Liberal candidate Mary Ng was leading Tory challenger Ragavan Paranchothy by more than 1,100 votes, after an initial show of strength by the Conservative hopeful.

A strong showing in the riding — formerly held by ex-cabinet minister John McCallum — is critical for the Liberals, given the importance of holding Toronto if they want to form government in 2019.

It is also important for Ng, who is currently on a leave of absence from her job in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office and seen by some as a strong candidate for cabinet.

The riding was vacated by McCallum when he was appointed Canada’s ambassador to China.

Markham-Thornhill is one of five ridings up for grabs in byelections, with two others in Calgary and one each in Ottawa and Montreal.

Those races were decidedly less close.

In the Montreal riding of Saint-Laurent, Liberal candidate Emmanuella Lambropoulos took an early lead with just over 57 per cent of the vote, leaving Conservative rival Jimmy Yu a distant second with less than 20 per cent.

In Ottawa-Vanier, the Liberals were also leading, but it was the New Democrats putting up a fight. Liberal candidate Mona Fortier had a 1,500-vote lead over NDP rival Emilie Taman, who campaigned hard against the government on the issue of electoral reform.

In the Alberta ridings of Calgary Heritage and Calgary Midnapore, formerly held by Stephen Harper and Jason Kenney, respectively, the dominance of the Conservatives was unmistakable.

In Calgary Heritage, Bob Benzen was leading with 70 per cent of the vote, about 2,300 votes clear of the Liberals’ Scott Forsyth at 22 per cent.

In Calgary Midnapore, Conservative Stephanie Kusie was crushing all comers with 78 per cent of the vote, her closest rival Liberal candidate Haley Brown at 16 per cent.