The federal Liberals are examining mixed results Tuesday from four byelections the previous night, holding on to three seats, but squeaking out a close battle in Vancouver and losing a Saskatchewan riding to the Tories.

Star Liberal candidates Bob Rae and Martha Hall Findlay, who had both contended for the party leadership, earned long-awaited seats in the House of Commons after handily winning their Toronto ridings, seats that were considered Liberal strongholds.

Rae, a former NDP premier of Ontario, won 59.2 per cent of the vote in the riding of Toronto Centre, Elections Canada said, after all 275 polling stations reported their numbers.

Rae finished far ahead of his three closest competitors — the NDP's El-Farouk Khaki, who took 13.8 per cent of the vote, Chris Tindal of the Green party, with 13.6 per cent, and Conservative Donald Meredith with 12.5 per cent.

Hall Findlay, meanwhile, took 59.3 per cent of the vote in the Willowdale riding, well ahead of Conservative Maureen Harquail's 30.1 per cent. The Green party's Lou Carcasole had 5.8 per cent of the vote and the NDP's Rini Ghosh had 4.8.

The Liberals had been expected to win the Vancouver and Toronto races, but analysts predicted a tight race in northern Saskatchewan. 

But in Vancouver Quadra, Liberal Joyce Murray, the former B.C. cabinet minister, narrowly defeated Conservative Deborah Meredith, taking the riding by 151 votes. Liberal support appeared to have gone primarily to the Green party, which almost tripled its vote to about 13.5 per cent.

Conservative Rob Clarke beat Liberal Joan Beatty, Dion's handpicked candidate in the Saskatchewan riding of Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River. Clarke captured about 48 per cent of the vote to her 31 per cent.

The remote, predominantly aboriginal riding, was considered a key race to win for Dion since he bypassed the nomination process and appointed former Saskatchewan New Democrat MLA Beatty over David Orchard, a key organizer for Dion's 2006 leadership bid.

Heading into the byelections, Liberals were hoping to capitalize on the recent controversy plaguing Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government, including the Chuck Cadman affair and NAFTA-gate.

Analysts had said Liberal victories would boost party morale, silence those questioning Dion's leadership abilities and perhaps give the Liberals enough momentum to pull the plug on the Conservative minority government and force an election.

The results will likely cause some concern for the NDP, who were virtually tied for support with the Green party in three of the ridings.

With files from the Canadian Press