TORONTO — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to appear Tuesday at a rally with Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne for the Liberal candidate in an upcoming provincial byelection east of Toronto.
The Ontario Liberal Party issued a statement from candidate Elizabeth Roy saying there has been "tremendous support" from Liberal MPs and MPPs and she looks forward to welcoming Trudeau to and Wynne to the riding.
It's unusual for a prime minister to wade into a provincial byelection.
The Feb. 11 byelection in Whitby-Oshawa was triggered after Progressive Conservative Christine Elliott resigned the seat, months after losing her party's leadership race.
The Liberals are eager to snatch the long-held Tory riding away, though neither a win nor a loss for them will affect the status of the majority Liberal government.
Wynne took an unusually high-profile role in campaigning for Trudeau during the federal election campaign, which saw Ontario play a large role in sweeping Trudeau to a majority government.
The Liberals, who held only 13 seats in the province when the election was called, were elected in 80 of Ontario's newly expanded total of 121 seats in October, including every single seat in the city of Toronto.
