Liberals make big gains in Winnipeg with Robert-Falcon Ouellette, MaryAnn Mihychuk
Doug Eyolfson unseats Tory Steven Fletcher, NDP's Pat Martin loses Winnipeg Centre
The Liberal Party made big gains in Winnipeg as poll results came in from across Manitoba Monday night.
Several long-sitting MPs were ousted by Liberals, a trend seen across Canada as the party took a majority government for the first time in more than a decade.
- Justin Trudeau to be prime minister as Liberals surge to majority
- Stephen Harper to step down as leader after Conservative defeat
"The goal of this campaign was never, never, never just to win. The goal of this campaign was to see your values reflected in Ottawa, to see your values reflected in our Parliament," Ouellette told supporters. "There will be challenges in Winnipeg Centre.
"We should be putting more people back to work, and we can," said Ouellette, who's aboriginal. "We should be lifting people out of poverty, and we can."
After the results came in, Martin told supporters, "It's been the honour of a lifetime to be your representative for 18 years, and I thank you all for that great privilege.... Thank you again for all you're doing to keep the movement alive in this riding."
Martin had some words of caution for the newly elected Liberal majority, though.
"If there's one thing I've learned about Liberals is they need a bunch of New Democrats in Parliament to drag them over and make them act like Liberals, because left to their own devices, they act like Conservatives every single time," said Martin. "It won't be me, but it will be a lot of good people."
CBC declared Liberal Dan Vandal elected in the Saint Boniface–Saint Vital riding around 9:15 p.m. CT. Vandal was running against the NDP's Erin Selby, Tory François Catellier and the Green Party's Glenn Zaretski.
Shortly after, CBC declared Tory Candice Bergen the winner of Portage–Lisgar. Bergen was running against Liberal Ken Werbiski, the NDP's Dean Harder, the Green Party's Beverly Eert and the Christian Heritage Party's Jerome Dondo.
In Elmwood-Transcona, NDP candidate Daniel Blaikie beat Tory incumbent Lawrence Toet by just 51 votes in a close race that stretched for hours after the polls closed.
Blaikie got 14,699 votes and Toet recieved 14,648 votes — a difference that is not enough to automatically trigger a recount under Elections Canada guidelines. Liberal Andrea Richardson-Lipon came in third with just over 12,500 votes.
"We'll see how things eventually go in the end here. We'll see the final, final numbers and we'll take a look at that tomorrow, but at this point in time people have said what they need to say," said Toet.
As for asking for a recount, Toet said: "That'll be a question for tomorrow. We'll sit down, and we'll analyze things tonight and tomorrow morning, and we'll make our choice as to what we need to do at that point in time. I'm not going to jump to any conclusions tonight."
In Dauphin–Swan River–Neepawa, CBC declared incumbent Tory Robert Sopuck re-elected. He was running against Liberal Ray Piché, the NDP's Laverne M. Lewycky, the Green Party's Kate Storey and independent Inky Mark.
"We made some tough decisions for the country," Sopuck said, pointing to the economy and recent foreign policy decisions. "But there are vested interests that oppose what we did, and that's obviously their right to do so, but we made the decisions that were right for the country."
In Winnipeg South Centre, CBC declared Liberal Jim Carr the winner, a gain for his party. Carr was running against Tory incumbent Joyce Bateman, the NDP's Matt Henderson and the Green Party's Andrew Park.
"The people of Winnipeg South Centre say they're ready, and I'm ready to be your member of Parliament," Jim Carr said in a rousing victory speech at his party at the Caboto Centre.
"Red Red Red!" Carr yelled to hundreds of supporters in the packed room.
CBC declared Liberal Kevin Lamoureux re-elected in Winnipeg North. Lamoureux was battling Tory Harpreet Turka, the NDP's Levy Abad and the Green Party's John Redekopp.
In Brandon–Souris, CBC declared Tory incumbent Larry Maguire re-elected. He was running against Liberal Jodi Wyman, the NDP's Melissa Joy Wastasecoot and the Green Party's David Neufeld.
CBC declared Liberal Doug Eyolfson elected in Charleswood–St. James–Assiniboia–Headingley — a victory over long-time Tory MP Steven Fletcher. Also running in that riding were the NDP's Tom Paulley and the Green Party's Kevin Nichols.
"[I'm] not actually that surprised, because I knew we actually had a shot at this," said Eyolfson. "I mean, we took nothing for granted. I didn't assume that we won this, but I knew we had a very good chance."
In Provencher, CBC declared Tory incumbent Ted Falk the winner. He was running against Liberal Terry Hayward, the NDP's Les Lilley and the Green Party's Jeff Wheeldon.
As for the Churchill-Keewatinook Aski riding, CBC declared NDP incumbent Niki Ashton re-elected, beating out Liberal Rebecca Chartrand, Tory Kyle Mirecki, the Green Party's August Hastmann and Libertarian Zachary Linnick.
As for Selkirk–Interlake–Eastman, CBC declared incumbent Tory James Bezan the winner, beating out Liberal Joanne Levy, the NDP's Deborah Chief, the Green Party's Wayne James and Libertarian Donald Grant.
Bezan called his win "bittersweet" and said he was surprised by the results.
"I knew we were going to be in for a tough night and was expecting a Liberal minority government, not a majority like we've witnessed today," he said. "I don't think any of us expected to see the NDP vote collapse.… At the end of it, it comes down to the NDP support completely collapsing and that vote going to the Liberals."
In Winnipeg South, CBC declared Liberal Terry Duguid elected. He was running against Tory candidate Gordon Giesbrecht, the NDP's Brianne Goertzen and the Green Party's Adam Smith.
"I'm feeling really elated and so proud that the team did it," said Mihychuk. "Kildonan-St. Paul was looking for change and they could see that I was going to bring it with Justin Trudeau. It's just incredible."
Mihychuk started knocking on doors more than 18 months ago, she said.
"We started giving out literature, talking to people, and you can't do that alone. You can't sit back and hope that the tide takes you in a riding like this," she said. "You see a lot of people that believed in the vision that Justin Trudeau had, and [they] came forward."
Mihychuk was one of four Liberal candidates who won in Winnipeg after failed mayoral bids. She, Vandal, Duguid and Ouellette have all run to be mayor of Winnipeg and come up short.
In the end, all but one seat in Winnipeg was handed to a Liberal candidate in Monday night's election.
Blaikie was the only non-Liberal winner in the city, and his race came down to just 51 votes.
Manitoba results by riding
- CBC declares NDP candidate Daniel Blaikie takes Elmwood-Transcona in close race
- CBC declares Liberal Robert-Falcon Ouellette winner in Winnipeg Centre
- CBC declares Liberal Kevin Lamoureux re-elected in Winnipeg North
- CBC declares Liberal Terry Duguid elected in Winnipeg South
- CBC declares Liberal candidate Jim Carr winner in Winnipeg South Centre
- CBC declares Dauphin–Swan River–Neepawa Tory incumbent Robert Sopuck re-elected
- CBC declares Tory incumbent Candice Bergen winner in Portage–Lisgar
- CBC declares Tory incumbent Ted Falk winner in Provencher
- CBC declares Liberal candidate Dan Vandal winner in Saint Boniface–Saint Vital
- CBC declares Liberal Doug Eyolfson elected in Charleswood–St. James–Assiniboia–Headingley
- CBC declares incumbent Tory James Bezan in Selkirk–Interlake–Eastman
- CBC declares Tory incumbent Larry Maguire re-elected in Brandon–Souris
- CBC declares Liberal MaryAnn Mihychuk winner in close Kildonan-St. Paul race
- CBC declares NDP Niki Ashton re-elected in Churchill-Keewatinook Aski