By Sierra Bein
The battle for the Toronto Centre riding is over. Liberal representative Chrystia Freeland has won with 49 per cent of the vote.
Candidates have been vying for the downtown Toronto seat leading up to the byelection on Monday Nov. 25 to replace outgoing Liberal MP Bob Rae. There had been a battle between Freeland and NDP representative Linda McQuaig, both front-runners in early polls. Even though the New Democratic Party lost the Toronto Centre byelection, the party received more votes than it had ever in the past.
Freeland received 17,081 votes, compared to McQuaig’s 12,643.
The Conservative Party’s candidate, Geoff Pollock, snagged 3,024 votes while the Green Party’s John Deverell received 1,027.
“I think it’s a substantial victory for us that we’ve done better in this election and this riding than we’ve ever done before,” Freeland said in her victory speech.
She also thanked federal Liberal leader Justin Trudeau for making multiple public appearances to support her election campaign.
Freeland’s prominent campaigning points included combatting the rise of income inequality as well as how to improve public housing and public transit.
Freeland and her supporters were awaiting the election results at the Jack Astor’s in the 10 Dundas building. Rae, who quit his position after 20 years in federal politics to focus on First Nations issues, The Toronto byelection was one of four that took place across the country.
Freeland is a former award-winning journalist who has worked as deputy editor of the Globe and Mail, managing editor at the Financial Times, and was the global editor-at-large of Thomas Reuters.
Freeland is also an award-winning author, best known for her book Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else.
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