Why Losing One Seat Was Such a Blow for Canada’s Trudeau

For eight years, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — himself the son of former prime minister, Pierre Trudeau — has managed to keep his Liberal Party in power while navigating his share of drama. But a special election in Toronto on June 24, where a Conservative candidate flipped a seat held by Liberals for more than three decades, shows just how much Trudeau’s party has lost its favor with voters. As the country readies for a national election that’s expected in 2025, Trudeau and the Liberals increasingly seem like a tired party playing from behind. Here’s where things stand.

The Conservative Party won a seat in the middle of Toronto that Trudeau’s Liberals had held since the early 1990s — a blow to the prime minister ahead of a national election that has to take place before late October 2025 under current rules.