The Conservatives pulled off an upset in a Quebec riding and regained a longtime Nova Scotia stronghold in federal byelections Monday night.

The Tories, thought to be dead in Quebec only a few months ago, took the Montmagny--L'Islet-Kamouraska--Riviere du Loup riding in the lower St. Lawrence region, with Conservative Bernard Genereux narrowly defeating Bloc Quebecois candidate Nancy Gagnon.

In another Quebec result, the Bloc romped to victory, with candidate Daniel Paille easily taking the east-end Montreal riding of Hochelaga.

In B.C., the NDP retained the New Westminster-Coquitlam riding, with Fin Donnelly scoring a sizable win.

In Nova Scotia, Conservative Scott Armstrong easily won the Cumberland-Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley riding with about 45 per cent of the vote.

The NDP candidate Mark Austin was second with 25.7 per cent of the vote late Monday, and Liberal candidate Jim Burrows had 21.3.

The riding has traditionally been Conservative since the late 1800s, with the Liberals only gaining a seat in 1993 when the Progressive Conservatives were effectively wiped off the electoral map.

The seat became available after Conservative MP Bill Casey went Independent and later announced his resignation.

Still, the Tories were pleased with the result.

"Governments rarely win byelections, so we are pleased we were able to win this seat in Nova Scotia," Conservative party spokesman Fred DeLorey said.

The Liberals issued a talking points memo to their party members Monday, saying the byelections were a referendum on the Conservatives.

"If the Conservatives fail to win all of the seats in tonight's byelections, it will be a signal that Canadians are still not willing to turn over the keys to such a partisan and incompetent government," the party maintained.

The talking points also said that the Grits have not held the ridings in "in 30, 40 50 years," while the Tories "have held all four in recent memory."

With files from The Canadian Press