Election 2015: 5 B.C. storylines from election night

Canada has a new government, a new prime minister, and a new federal political landscape.

So how did all those headlines play out in B.C.? Here are five stories that capture what happened in B.C. on election night.

Indo-Canadians give strength to Liberal push

Against the backdrop of controversial ads targeting ethnic voters, which left some communities offended, four Indo-Candian Liberal candidates were elected in the Lower Mainland: Harjit Sajjan took Vancouver South, Sukh Dhaliwal took Surrey-Newton, Randeep Sarai took Surrey Centre and Jati Sidhu won Mission–Matsqui–Fraser Canyon.

CBC-TV anchor Andrew Chang got a firsthand look at the enthusiasm of some Indo-Canadian supporters at Sukh Dhaliwal's victory party. You can see video of that at the top of the page.

No second seat for the Greens

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May was re-elected in the riding of Saanich–Gulf Islands, but the party failed to win any other seats — and even lost ground in Ontario when Bruce Hyer, MP for Thunder Bay, was not re-elected.

The neighbouring riding of Victoria was identified as one of the best opportunities for the Greens, but former CBC host Jo-Ann Roberts lost to incumbent NDP candidate Murray Rankin.

Frances Litman was a distant third in the riding of Esquimalt–Saanich–Sooke as were other Green candidates in Vancouver Island ridings.

Big names leave big vacancies

The Conservatives lost some key B.C. players from previous governments.

Industry Minister James Moore resigned before the election, and Minister of National Revenue Kerry-Lynne Findlay lost her re-election bid. Several other MPs also failed to win re-election.

The bad news wasn't all for the Conservatives, however: NDP incumbent Jinny Sims lost her Surrey-Newton seat to Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal.

Urban-rural divide

B.C. elected 17 Liberal MPs in this election, but only one came from outside of the Lower Mainland.

Liberal Stephen Fuhr narrowly edged Conservative incumbent Ron Cannan for Kelowna Lake Country with 47 per cent of the vote to Cannan's 40 per cent.

The NDP picked up a few seats outside of the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island, but despite those anomalies, B.C.'s rural areas remained largely Tory blue.

B.C. irrelevant?

Remember when some had B.C. and its six new ridings pegged as potential kingmakers?

It didn't quite unfold that way. In fact, the race had been called a Liberal victory before the polls closed on the West Coast, leading to some frustration from voters who were still casting their ballots while Ontario and Quebec had basically settled Canada's 42nd election.