In his first electoral test since become leader of the Conservative Party, Pierre Poilievre came up short. Former Ontario Liberal Treasurer Charles Sousa captured the riding by a comfortable margin over the Conservative Ron Chhinzer, a police officer with strong community ties. Sousa had lost his seat in the 2018 election that saw the provincial Liberals decimated and lose official party status.
Mississauga Lakeshore has a Liberal history, but was one of the several GTA suburban ridings captured by Stephen Harper which allowed him to form his first majority government. It is the kind of riding the Conservatives must win if they are to form a government as they have little room to add to their seat totals in the rest of Canada.
The loss is a setback for Poilievre in his first test of his party under his leadership, he stayed largely out of the race.
With all but one poll to hear from Souza had beaten his conservative opponent by more than 3,300 votes– a margin of 51 percent to Chhinzer’s 37 percent. Voter turnout was a mere 26 percent. Pundits thought the race would be closer, but polling that came out last week pointed to the Sousa victory.
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