Polls close for Toronto-St. Paul’s federal byelection

The polls have officially closed in the federal byelection for Toronto-St. Paul’s riding.

The results are expected to start being released shortly.

Elections Canada did note that, due to the unusual size of the ballot, it could slow down the counting process.

There were seven dozen people on the ballot, which is almost a metre long. A protest group calling itself the Longest Ballot Committee stacked it with names to make a point about the first-past-the-post system being unfair. They did similar protests in byelections in Winnipeg a year ago and Mississauga in 2022.

Monday’s byelection was triggered by the resignation of former cabinet minister and long-time Liberal Party of Canada representative Carolyn Bennett back in January.

This race has been viewed by many as the latest test of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s leadership, raising additional questions about his future should the Liberals lose what has been a stronghold for the party.

Leslie Church, who served as chief of staff to Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, is running for the Liberals. Don Stewart, a financial and marketing specialist, is running for the Conservative Party of Canada. Amrit Parhar, a director with a non-profit, is running for the NDP.

Christian Cullis, a constituency and communications assistant for Ward 11 University–Rosedale Coun. Dianne Saxe served as the Green Party of Canada candidate.