Montreal byelection: Liberals say loss a ‘dry run’ for general election [Video]

Liberal campaign co-chair Soraya Martinez Ferrada says her party’s Montreal byelection loss — in a riding that has historically been a party stronghold — is a “dry run” for the next general election.

In an interview with CTV’s Power Play with Vassy Kapelos Tuesday night, Ferrada says the results in LaSalle-Émard-Verdun are a “way for us to learn.”

“We have to make sure that we are taking a lot of things from this byelection and preparing because it was a good dry run for us in terms of how we prepare for a general election,” she told Kapelos.

The Bloc Québécois’ Louis-Philippe Sauvé clinched Monday night’s byelection with 28 per cent of the vote. Liberal candidate Laura Palestini, meanwhile, came in second with 27.2 per cent, followed by NDP candidate Craig Sauvé who secured 26.1 per cent of the vote.

In the last two federal elections, former Liberal justice minister …