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Trudeau hand-picking candidate in Montreal byelection riles aspiring contenders

  • The Canadian Press

  • Canadian Press

  • July 23, 2024

City Coun. Laura Palestini poses in this undated handout photo. Palestini will be the Liberal candidate in the upcoming byelection for the Montreal riding of LaSalle--Emard--Verdun. The seat has been empty since the resignation of former justice minister David Lametti, who held the seat from its creation in 2015 to early 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Ville de Montreal

OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's decision to hand-pick a candidate for a riding in an upcoming Montreal byelection isn't being well-received by three aspiring contenders who spent months campaigning.

The Liberals announced Montreal city Coun. Laura Palestini last week as the party's candidate in a byelection whose date has yet to be announced for the riding of LaSalle--Emard--Verdun.

Three aspiring candidates -- a local school commissioner, an entrepreneur, and a former Quebec Liberal party organizer -- denounced the decision, with one calling it "anti-democratic, 100 per cent."

Liberal campaign co-chair Soraya Martinez Ferrada says it was Trudeau's decision to prevent party members from choosing the candidate and to instead select Palestini, who represents the LaSalle borough on Montreal city council.

The Liberals have won the riding in all three elections since it was created, with former justice minister David Lametti re-elected with 42.9 per cent of the vote in 2021.

Lametti resigned on Jan. 31, after he was excluded from Trudeau's cabinet in last summer's reshuffle.

This report by was first published July 23, 2024.