
Bill Morneau wins Toronto Centre as Liberals sweep the city
By Pamela Johnston
Bill Morneau was welcomed to his victory campaign party at the Paint Box Bistro by a large crowd of Liberal supporters on Monday night. The Toronto Centre elect joined his wife, and two youngest children on stage, along with his parents close by in the crowd.
“We could not have imagined a better evening, and I think the night is going to get better and better as it goes on,” Morneau said.
The businessman and former Chair of St. Michael’s Hospital defeated NDP candidate Linda McQuaig by more than 15,000 votes. The Liberals ended the night winning all of Toronto’s 25 ridings, including Toronto Centre, which contains most of the Ryerson campus.
Before his arrival the crowd was already cheering with the prospect of a Liberal Majority government in sight. The cheers only grew once his family entered the Regent Park bistro and the new MP got to the microphone to tell the stories that inspired him along the campaign trail.
The first was about a 15-year-old girl who approached him for his help to get her family into Toronto Community Housing because they had been on the waiting list for nine years.
Morneau said, “It’s inspiring stories like that, that have made me say I’ve done the right thing and I hope that we can do the right thing by bringing really positive change to this country.”
Liberals Sweep in Atlantic Canada
By Krista Hessey and Kayleigh Robinson
Polls have now closed across Canada and Trudeau’s Liberal Party shows an early lead in Atlantic Canada. The Liberals have won all 32 seats across New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador.
The NDP and Conservatives have lost typical strongholds across the region. One of the biggest surprises so far was Liberal Andy Fillmore winning the seat instead of the NDP who has held the riding since 1997. Conservative and Former Aboriginal Minister Affairs minister Bernard Valcourt, was unseated by Liberal René Arseneault Madawaska-Restigouche in N.B.
Liberal Seamus O’Regan defeated NDP incumbent Ryan Cleary, in St. John’s South Mount Pearl.
Liberal Karen Ludwig unseated Conservative incumbent John Williamson in New Brunswick South West.
Now attention turns to Quebec and Ontario to see how the Liberals fare. As of now the Liberals have 33 elected MPs, followed by Conservatives with 12, and the NDP with one seat.
So far in Quebec is expected to remain NDP, but so far there has been some gains by the Conservatives at the NDP’s expense.
Ontario is predicted to remain split between red and blue as rural areas lean Conservative and urban areas lean red.