UPDATED – An election that nobody wanted has reshaped the Canadian political landscape.
Voters gave Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper a majority government, with preliminary results showing it has 167 seats and 39.6 per cent of the vote. The New Democratic Party (NDP), led by Jack Layton, had an historic breakthrough, winning official opposition status with 102 seats and 30.6 per cent of the vote. The Liberal Party lost ground, winning only 34 seats and 18.9 per cent of the vote. The Bloc Quebecois also lost ground, winning only four seats and six per cent of the vote.
Elizabeth May, Green Party leader, made history on May 2, becoming the first elected Green MP in Canada. However, both Liberal Michael Ignatieff and Gilles Duceppe of the Bloc failed to win their seats and have resigned as party leaders.
In West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country, Conservative John Weston easily won re-election. Preliminary results show Weston won with 28,711 votes and 45.5 per cent of the vote.
New Democrat Terry Platt captured 14,812 votes and 23.5 per cent of the vote. Liberal Dan Veniez had 14,103 votes and 22.3 per cent of the vote. Green Party candidate Brennan Wauters had 4,597 votes and 7.3 per cent of the vote.
Weston increased his vote percentage by almost one point over the 2008 election, while Platt increased her party’s percentage by nine points. The Liberals’ percentage decreased by four points and the Greens lost seven points. Shortly before the 2008 election was called, then MP Blair Wilson switched parties from the Liberals to the Greens.
Weston told the Peak on election night that he was “very happy, very grateful and very humble.”
Canadians are looking forward to getting on with the clear priorities the Conservatives set out during the campaign, Weston said. “They wanted a stable government situation,” he said. “We’ve achieved that. We’ve made great strides in terms of nation building by replacing Bloc MPs with NDP MPs. I think that’s really good for Canada.”
His campaign had 600 volunteers, Weston said, who “worked really well together. People worked hard, but there was a lot of laughter.”
Weston expressed his gratitude to Powell River residents. “For a community that is among the most remote of the riding, Powell River really worked hard in the last two and a half years to collaborate and to ensure that local, first nations, provincial and federal representatives were working together and the results came in terms of investment in the riding and in Powell River. Let’s hope we can build on those good things.”
While she would have liked to have won, Platt said she was thrilled with the results. “I believe the official opposition is in very good hands with Jack. He is marvelous, he is very dedicated, he is just a marvelous man, that’s all I can say and he is going to make a wonderful leader of the opposition.”
Platt said she was concerned that Harper has a majority. “I think it’s scary times for Canada. But Jack will keep the seat hot for Harper. I don’t think he will concede on many things.”
Platt also said she was surprised that she came in second in the riding. “I did not expect to get more votes than Dan Veniez. I thought he was a very worthy candidate and very knowledgeable on the issues, but hey, I can’t complain about myself. It would have been nice to win, but it’s a good result.”
On Saturday, Platt, a BC Ferries employee, is going back to work on the Queen of Oak Bay. As for future political plans, Platt said she didn’t know. “Who knows? I’ve run twice in two provincials for the NDP in West Van Capilano. Who knows about next time. I have a great team here on the Sunshine Coast.”
Veniez said he was proud of his campaign. “I’m pleased that we tried to wage an idea-based campaign, one on substance, and tried to have serious conversations with people about serious issues,” he said. “None of that, of course, matters, which is the bizarre irony of our democracy.”
This was the first time Veniez, a businessman, has run for public office and he said he will not run again in the riding. “I never planned on making a career of this. I promised myself that I would try to make a contribution, if the stars aligned. They didn’t.”
During the campaign, Veniez launched three actions against Weston, two complaints with Elections Canada, a lawsuit claiming defamation and a complaint with the Law Society, since Weston is a lawyer. He said he plans on pursuing all three. “[Weston] said this is a mark of a desperate campaign. That’s nonsense. It’s the mark of a guy who refuses to sit back while he’s slandered and while the law is broken, which in this case it clearly was.”
~ with files from Coast Reporter.
