By Steve Scherer

OTTAWA (Reuters) -Canada’s ruling Liberal Party won two of four seats up for grabs in by-elections to fill empty spots in the House of Commons, and performed better in a riding won by rival Conservatives than in 2021, preliminary results showed on Tuesday.

Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau won resounding victories for the Notre-Dame-de-Grace-Westmount seat in Montreal – where Conservatives came in third – and Winnipeg South Centre in Manitoba, and clawed back some 10 percentage points in the traditionally Conservative riding of Oxford, Ontario, versus the 2021 vote.

This was one of the first tests for Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, who took over the party last year. He sought to capitalize on fatigue with Trudeau, who has been in power for almost eight years.

“Tonight’s results once again showed Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives failing to make any significant gains with Canadian voters,” said Azam Ishmael, the Liberal Party national director, in a statement.

Conservatives won back votes in a traditional stronghold, but made no significant gains against Liberals in other places.

Trudeau has won three elections, starting in 2015, but Poilievre has often led in national opinion polls since he became leader of his party last year amid high inflation and a housing shortage.

Poilievre celebrated the party’s two wins on Twitter, saying: “After 8 years of Trudeau, Canadians are ready to stop the inflationary spending.”

Since Liberals and Conservatives held onto their seats, there was no change in the balance of power in the House of Commons, where Trudeau governs with the external support of the New Democrats.

While Poilievre fell short in Quebec and lost ground in Ontario, his party won decisively (64.9%) in the Portage-Lisgar riding in Manitoba, where the right-wing People’s Party of Canada (PPC) had taken home almost 22% of the vote in 2021, railing against COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates.

PPC leader Maxime Bernier won 17.2% in Monday’s vote, and Conservatives boosted their support by more than 10 percentage points versus 2021 to 64.9%.

While no election is due until 2025, Trudeau can call one earlier if he wants.

(Reporting by Steve Scherer, Editing by Nick Zieminski and Barbara Lewis)

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