Cloverdale byelection poses test for Trudeau

Voters in the Liberal-held British Columbia riding of Cloverdale—Langley City go to the polls today to pick a new member of Parliament, in another test for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Liberal candidate Madison Fleischer, a local business owner, will face Conservative Tamara Jansen who previously held the seat.

The byelection comes after the Liberals have already lost two long-held seats in the last several months. 

The successive byelection losses and dismal poll numbers have inspired public calls from inside and outside of Trudeau's caucus for him to resign as party leader. 

Cloverdale—Langley City in the Fraser Valley east of Vancouver has see-sawed between the Liberals and Conservatives in recent elections, with Jansen unseating Liberal John Aldag in 2019 before a 2021 rematch saw Aldag return as MP.

Aldag quit this year to run in October's provincial election for the NDP in Langley-Abbotsford, but was defeated by a B.C. Conservative.

All three provincial ridings in Langley were won by the B.C. Conservatives, who have no official relationship with the federal Conservatives.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 16, 2024.