Star Liberal candidates Bob Rae and Martha Hall Findlay earned long-awaited seats in the House of Commons after handily winning a pair of federal byelections in Toronto on Monday.

Liberal Bob Rae, ccentre, celebrates his win in Toronto Centre with his wife Arlene Perly Rae and party leader Stéphane Dion on Monday.
(Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)

Both seats were considered Liberal strongholds.

"I stand before you thanking you so much for the love and support you have all given me tonight," a tearful Rae told a cheering crowd at his Toronto headquarters, before kissing his wife, Arlene Perly Rae.

"And I stand before you with great hopes for the Canada of our time and the Canada of our future. Vive le Canada."

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 — 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 had 12.5 per cent.

Hall Findlay, meanwhile, had 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 NDP's Rini Ghosh had 4.8.

The results were final, with all 270 polling stations reporting numbers.

"When I get to Ottawa, [Conservative Prime Minister] Stephen Harper won’t know what hit him," a jubilant Hall Findlay, 48, told supporters in Toronto, her family at her side.

Both Rae and Hall Findlay were prominent candidates when the Liberals were choosing a new leader in 2006, losing to ultimate winner Stéphane Dion.

Dion, who posed arm-in-arm with Rae soon after the byelection results were announced, called Rae "an architect of the Canada of tomorrow" and said Monday was a great day for the Liberals.

"Tonight it's very clear that, as a leader, I have a much better team than Stephen Harper," Dion said.

The Toronto byelections were two of four races across the country on Monday. The others were in northern Saskatchewan, in the riding of Desnethé–Missinippi–Churchill River, and in Vancouver Quadra, in British Columbia.

All four races were considered crucial for the Liberals, who suffered a humiliating shutout in three Quebec byelections exactly six months ago.

Rae takes Graham's old riding

Rae, 59, captured the Toronto riding that was held for 14 years by former Liberal cabinet minister Bill Graham, who resigned in July.

Rae is no stranger to the House of Commons. The father of three was elected as a New Democrat MP in a 1978 byelection in the Toronto riding of Broadview and represented the area until 1982, when he quit federal politics to lead the Ontario NDP party.

Rae led the provincial NDP to power in 1990, and served as premier until his party lost the 1995 Ontario election to the Conservatives.

After leaving politics in 1995, he spent years writing books and advising the government on issues like post-secondary education and the Air India tragedy before jumping back into the political arena in 2006.

He made headlines when he joined the Liberal party and ran for the leadership, finishing third behind Dion and Michael Ignatieff.

Hall Findlay battled Stronach

Hall Findlay, a lawyer and mother of three, drew attention in the 2004 election when she ran as a Liberal against then-Conservative Belinda Stronach in Ontario's Newmarket-Aurora riding. Hall Findlay lost only by a few hundred votes.

Martha Hall Findlay, left, seen with a voter in Toronto early Monday, stepped aside in 2005 so that Belinda Stronach could run in the Newmarket-Aurora riding.
(CBC)

She then stepped aside in the riding when Stronach crossed the floor in 2005 and wanted to run as Newmarket-Aurora's Liberal candidate in the 2006 election. Stronach won the riding.

In her victory speech, Hall Findlay alluded to her past struggles of "people changing parties" and said her previous political battles have prepared her for life as an MP.

The riding Hall Findlay won had been held by veteran Liberal Jim Peterson since 1988. Peterson retired in 2007.

Crucial races for the Liberals

The Liberals were expected to win the Vancouver and Toronto races, but analysts predicted a tight race in northern Saskatchewan. Conservative Rob Clarke beat Liberal Joan Beatty, Dion's handpicked candidate in the riding of Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River.

In Vancouver Quadra, Liberal Joyce Murray narrowly defeated Conservative Deborah Meredith.

Heading into the byelections, analysts had said Liberal victories on Monday 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.

However, losses were expected to spell trouble for the Liberals, with analysts predicting Dion could face an open revolt.

"Mr. Dion is in a position where anything short of four [seats] is going to cause some problems," Joe Jordan, a political pundit and former MP, told CBC News before results emerged on Monday.

Rae on Monday night confirmed his commitment to Dion.

"I want to thank Stéphane for his leadership, I want to thank Stéphane Dion for his integrity," Rae said.

"And I want to say it's that leadership and that integrity that's going to stand us in wonderful stead in the days ahead."

All four ridings up for grabs on Monday had been held by the Liberals, who won them in the 2006 general election.