BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1510 West

As widely expected, the Liberals swept all three West Island ridings in Monday’s federal election, with incumbents not only garnering strong majority support but improving on their showings from the last election.

The most decisive win was in Lac—Saint—Louis, where incumbent Francis Scarpaleggia secured his eighth term, attracting 67.4 per cent of the votes cast and marking the highest level of support he has received since first elected in 2004. Monday’s win also has earned him the distinction of now being the longest-serving Liberal in Quebec.

“It was the most positive campaign I’ve ever had,” Scarpaleggia said in an interview yesterday, explaining how voters very clearly expressed support for Canada.

The new government, he said, which fell four seats short of forming a majority in Parliament, will immediately focus its attention on the economic challenges of navigating a tariff war with the biggest economy in the world.

“We’re going to have to restructure the economy to pivot away from the U.S.,” he said, describing the Liberals’ failure to secure a majority was not what the party was hoping for.

“But we know how to manage minority situations,” he said, explaining that of his eight elections, this is the sixth time he has been a member of a minority Liberal government.

Conservative candidate Matthew Rusniak posted a respectable showing, collecting almost 24 per cent of the vote. Lac-Saint-Louis includes the municipalities of Senneville, Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Baie d’Urfé, Kirkland, Beaconsfield, Pointe Claire and the western part of the Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough.

In Pierrefonds—Dollard riding, incumbent Sameer Zuberi easily won his seat for the third time, picking up almost 60 per cent of the vote. His closest rival was Conservative Tanya Toledano, who captured 31 per cent of the vote in what turned out to be, essentially, a two-person race, as Bloc candidate Katrina Archambault finished a distance third with only 5.3-per-cent of the vote.

The riding includes the municipalities of Dollard des Ormeaux, most of Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough and all of the Île Bizard-Ste. Geneviève borough.

In Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, Liberal incumbent Anju Dhillon held on to her seat, earning just over 59 per cent of ballots cast. She defeated Conservative Alioune Sarr, who came in a distant second, with less than 22 per cent of votes cast.