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OTTAWAToronto-area Liberals are hoping a popular leader and a renewed focus on new Canadians will help beat back opposition rivals in the hard-fought battles for GTA seats in 2015.

After a string of election defeats that ultimately knocked the party to third place in 2011, the Liberals are heading into the election year optimistic they can end their losing streak.

Almost nine years of Conservative rule have left voters ready for change, says Peter Fonseca, the Liberal candidate in Mississauga EastCooksville.

There is a need for change in the country, theres a need for change in direction, theres a need for change in leadership, Fonseca told the Star in an interview.

To help make that change a reality, the Liberals brought 122 of their candidates to Ottawa last week for a campaign boot camp to learn about the tools and strategies for the 2015 election, the party said in a news release.

On Wednesday morning, the candidates joined Liberal MPs for the weekly caucus session, resulting in a crowded Parliament Hill meeting room that for some evoked memories of the days when the party was in power.

In his address to the crowd, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau praised the extraordinary experience of the candidates.

The Liberal commitment is to building a team that is as diverse as our great nation, Trudeau said.

The Star sat down with three candidates from the Greater Toronto Area to discuss the Liberal game plan to win seats in Canadas largest city and across the country.

Fonseca is the political veteran, a former provincial cabinet minister who left Queens Park to try his hand at federal politics, losing to Conservative Wladyslaw Lizon in Mississauga EastCooksville by 676 votes in the 2011 vote.

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Popular leader, focus on new Canadians key to winning, Ontario Liberals say