ONTARIO’S Mississauga–Lakeshore riding elected Charles Sousa, former Ontario finance minister, as their next Liberal MP on Monday.

Sousa defeated Conservative candidate Ron Chhinzer, a member of the Peel Regional Police Service.

And the Liberals used that victory to slam the Conservatives. Azam Ishmael, National Director of the Liberal Party, said: “Since becoming leader of the Conservative Party, Pierre Poilievre has been asking Canadians to send [Prime Minister] Justin Trudeau and our Liberal team a message – and the election of Charles Sousa sent a clear one. Tonight, voters in Mississauga–Lakeshore rejected the reckless policies of Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives and chose to move forward with Justin Trudeau and our Liberal team’s positive plan to make life more affordable and build an economy that works for all Canadians.”

The party noted that the by-election win comes after it achieved its best-ever November for grassroots fundraising in the party’s history, with tens of thousands of Canadians chipping in more than $1.4 million. “November’s results build on a strong year for grassroots fundraising, allowing the Liberal Party to end 2022 by fully repaying all loans from their successful 2021 re-election campaign,” it added.

The byelection took place after Liberal MP Sven Spengemann resigned the seat to take a job with the United Nations.

The riding has been a safe one for the Liberals though in 2011-2015 it was held by Conservative MP Stella Ambler when the Conservatives won their first majority government.