A mainstream media outlet has quietly erased any trace of an erroneous byelection call.
Online news outlet iPolitics falsely reported that the Liberals won the hotly contested Toronto—St. Paul’s byelection in a since-removed story published early Tuesday.
“The federal Liberals narrowly retained a central Toronto riding in a closely watched byelection on Monday that was seen as a must-win for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau,” reads the original iPolitics article.
However, Conservative candidate Don Stewart won the riding in the early hours of Tuesday morning, beating out Liberal candidate Leslie Church by two points.
Despite the riding being a longstanding stronghold for the Liberals for over 30 years, Stewart was elected with 42.1% of the vote. Stewart narrowly edged out Church with a 590-vote lead over her by the time all ballots were counted.
NDP candidate Amrit Parhar finished in a distant third with 10.9% of the vote.
iPolitics’ publisher did not respond for comment when contacted about the false report.
The outlet’s owner, Brian Storseth, directed True North to the editor of iPolitics, who did not respond to a request for comment.
The seat had previously been held by Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett, who won the riding by 24 points in 2021, continuing the long line of Liberals to hold it since 1993.
“Thank you Toronto—St. Paul’s!” said Stewart in a post to X, following the results of the byelection.
“I am beyond humbled for the trust you have put in me and I will never take it for granted. I promise to be YOUR voice on Parliament Hill.”
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre responded to Stewart’s victory by congratulating him and urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to call an early election in a social media post on Tuesday.
“Here is the verdict: Trudeau can’t go on like this. He must call a carbon tax election now,” wrote Poilievre.
The loss of Toronto—St. Paul’s has been devastating to Trudeau’s reputation as leader of the Liberal party. However, he has rejected the idea that he will step down ahead of the next federal election.