The seat was held by the Liberal candidate Emmanuella Lambropoulos on a reduced majority.

The riding (previously called Saint-Laurent—Cartierville) has been represented by Stéphane Dion since 1996, and has been held by the Liberals since its creation in 1988.

The riding of Saint-Laurent was vacated on February 6, 2017,[3][4] following the appointment of Liberal MP and former Minister of Foreign Affairs Stéphane Dion as Canada's Ambassador to the European Union and Germany.

[6][7] In what was seen as a surprising result, both James and Rizqy were defeated for the Liberal nomination by local educator Emmanuella Lambropoulos.

Conservative leadership candidate and venture capitalist Rick Peterson had expressed interest in running for the nomination, but declined on March 7.