The Numbers: New Year, New By-Elections?
Éric and Philippe return to discuss the latest polls and some crucial vacancies to fill early in 2026 for Mark Carney's Liberals.
Chrystia Freeland, the former cabinet minister and Liberal leadership contestant whose resignation letter was the final nail in the coffin of Justin Trudeau’s prime ministership, finally vacated her seat in the House of Commons last week. As Mark Carney tries to find his way to the magic number of 172 seats needed for a majority government, he now has one more to fill.
And it likely won’t be the last.
In the first episode of 2026 of The Numbers, we take a look at the one by-election we know will happen soon and the other potential seats that could be vacated in the coming weeks or months.
We also discuss the latest federal polling numbers as well as the state of the B.C. Conservative, Quebec Liberal and Ontario Liberal leadership races. Plus, there’s a new poll out of Nova Scotia.
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I was just reading a CBC report by Aaron Wherry that said “according to polling by the Environics Institute, 70 per cent of Canadians are either very or somewhat satisfied with "the way democracy works in Canada." I find that info hard to believe. But I’d be interested in your take.