Conservatives Win 2 Byelections, 1 At Bloc's Expense

Photo: Four ridings were up for grabs in Monday's federal byelections — one each in British Columbia and Nova Scotia and two in Quebec. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

From The CBC:

Bloc holds on to Montreal riding, NDP wins in B.C.

The Conservatives scored two federal byelection wins Monday, upsetting the Bloc Québécois in eastern Quebec and cruising to an easy victory in Nova Scotia.

The Bloc easily retained the riding of Hochelaga in Montreal's east end, while the New Democrats had no trouble holding on to a seat in British Columbia.

Conservative Bernard Genereux, the former mayor of La Pocatière, scored an upset in Montmagny-L'Islet-Kamouraska-Rivière du loup in eastern Quebec, taking more than 42 per cent of the vote, ahead of the Bloc's Nancy Gagnon, with just under 38 per cent.

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My Comment: This is an unexpected surprise for the Conservatives .... especially in Quebec. They also did better in the Montreal riding, as well as finishing a respectable 2nd in B.C.

The Bloc did a heavy push in support of the gun registry which clearly flat in Eastern Quebec.The NDP won in BC opposing the Harmonization tax .... which worked for them even though they are in favor of raising the GST. The message from the Conservatives could have been better refined .... but it was not.

The big losers were the Liberals .... their popular vote went down, and the Green party was non-existent in the vote count.

I will comment more on the Liberal loss of popular vote in the next few posts.