Ottawa

Liberals make big gains in Ottawa, surrounding region

Ottawa and the surrounding region has followed the rest of the country in giving Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party a majority government on election night.

7 of 8 Ottawa ridings go to Liberals as Paul Dewar, Royal Galipeau lose seats

Catherine McKenna, who beat longtime NDP MP Paul Dewar in a close race, will represent Ottawa Centre on Parliament Hill. The Liberals went from two seats to seven in Ottawa on Monday night. (CBC News)

Ottawa and the surrounding region have joined the rest of the country in giving Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party a majority government on election night.

Longtime Liberal MP Mauril Belanger cuts a victory cake after being re-elected in the riding of Ottawa-Vanier. (Giacomo Panico/CBC)

The Liberals took seven of eight seats in Ottawa, swept all four west Quebec seats from the NDP and even picked up a few seats in other parts of eastern Ontario.

Among the upsets on the night, Catherine McKenna defeated the NDP's Paul Dewar in Ottawa Centre, Andrew Leslie defeated Conservative Royal Galipeau in Orléans and Greg Fergus defeated Nycole Turmel in Hull-Aylmer.

Elsewhere in Ottawa, Anita Vandenbeld won in John Baird's old riding of Ottawa West-Nepean, Karen McCrimmon won Kanata-Carleton — Gordon O'Connor's old riding — and Chandra Arya defeated Andy Wang in Nepean.

Liberal incumbents David McGuinty in Ottawa South and Mauril Bélanger in Ottawa-Vanier also retained their seats.

Poilievre was the lone Conservative in Ottawa to win his seat — the new riding of Carleton.

Liberals vow to repair relations with public service

Newly-elected Liberals promised to work hard for the region and work to repair the government's relationship with the public service.

"The Liberal Party is about investing in you, and by golly we're going to do it," said Andrew Leslie.

Chandra Arya said he wanted to bring respect back to the public service.

"From day one while knocking the doors, the anger of the public servants was very visible, and all they wanted is respect back, and allowing them to do their jobs to the best of their ability. That's all they wanted, and I believe they turned out in big numbers to support me," he said.

Incumbent Mauril Bélanger echoed Arya's message after winning re-election in his riding of Ottawa-Vanier.

"We will treat them [public sector workers] with respect. And we will re-establish the laws that the Conservatives have abolished," he said.

Liberals pick up seats in eastern Ontario

Liberal candidate Chandra Arya shakes hands with supporters after winning the riding of Nepean on election night. (Alistair Steele/CBC)

In eastern Ontario, the Liberals also picked up seats in Kingston and the Islands — with Mark Gerretsen winning — and Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, where Francis Drouin defeated incumbent Pierre Lemieux.

Conservatives incumbents that held onto their ridings in eastern Ontario include Scott Reid (Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston), Cheryl Gallant (Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke), Guy Lauzon (Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry) and Gord Brown (Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes).

And in west Quebec, Liberal candidates swept all four seats from the NDP, with Greg Fergus, Steven MacKinnon, Will Amos and Stéphane Lauzon winning in Hull-AylmerGatineau, Pontiac and Argeneuil-La Petite-Nation.