LaSalle-Emard-Verdun: Aspiring Liberal candidates unhappy with Trudeau

In Montreal’s LaSalle-Émard-Verdun constituency, prospective voters say they are unhappy with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to deploy a city councillor rather than let federal Liberal activists choose their candidate for the by-election.

City council member Laura Palestini has been nominated as a candidate for the Liberal Party.

The three candidates in this Montreal constituency find the decision unacceptable, as they campaigned in vain for five months.

School board campaigner Lori Morrison called the decision “undemocratic.”

Entrepreneur Christopher Baenninger, another candidate, said he was “in shock” by a decision that was “wrong” and “demotivating.”

The third candidate, Eddy Kara, a former organizer and filmmaker for the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ), said he found it “truly shocking” that Trudeau had disrupted the nomination process.

Since the creation of the LaSalle-Émard-Verdun district, the Liberals have won all three elections.

— This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on July 23, 2024.