Canadians have chosen another minority Liberal government and given Justin Trudeau a mandate to finish the fight against COVID-19 and rebuild the shattered economy.
Newfoundland and Labrador remained primarily red but many of the races were tight until the home stretch. The Conservatives made a breakthrough with their first seat in the province since Peter Penashue in Labrador.
Clifford Small defeated long-time Liberal MP Scott Simms in the central Newfoundland riding of Coast of Bays, Central, Notre Dame. Small, originally from Wild Cove on the Baie Verte Peninsula, is the owner of Smitty’s Family Restaurant in the metro region. He credits his hard work on the hustings and what he heard was a desire for change.
Joanne Thompson of the Liberals and Mary Shortalll of the NDP flip-flopped all night but in the end, Thompson regained St. John’s East for the Liberals.
Gudie Hutchings got a scare from Conservative Carol Anstey in Long Range Mountains but, in the end, was declared the victor. The same was true in Bonavista-Burin-Trinity where Conservative Sharon Vokey waged a strong campaign against Liberal incumbent Churence Rogers (Bonavista-Burin-Trinity) who is heading back to Ottawa.
Liberals Ken McDonald (Avalon), Yvonne Jones (Labrador) and Seamus O’Regan (St. John’s South-Mount Pearl) were declared elected fairly early on.
NDP Loses Sole Seat in Atlantic Canada
St. John’s East, the only NDP seat in Atlantic Canada, has gone back to Liberal. It’s a big loss for the NDP in a race which changed hands several times.
In the end, Thompson secured the seat with 43 per cent of the popular vote. The NDP’s Mary Shortall received 33 per cent support, Glenn Etchegary of the Tories came in at 19 per cent, and Dana Metcalf of the People’s Party received 2 per cent.
NDP's Mary Shortall not ready to concede in St. John's East just yet. Tells party faithful "we'll see what hapoens in the morning." @VOCMNEWS pic.twitter.com/VEUUaDTDXu
— Brian Callahan (@briancallahan67) September 21, 2021
Shortall would not concede defeat last night, but her tone was decidedly subdued as she thanked party faithful.
Thompson says she’s humbled at the result. As for how she was able to flip the riding from the NDP to the Liberals, Thompson says people in the region understand that more can be done with politicians at the table working together.
She was pleased going door-to-door and seeing that people knew her and her track record. She notes that there’s a lot of work to do.
Thompson celebrates with her family after her speech. You can hear what she had to say in her speech & post victory scrum with media tomorrow morning on the @VOCMNEWS morning show @590VOCM #Elxn44 pic.twitter.com/ogHHMK4U4d
— Richard Duggan (@RDugganVOCM) September 21, 2021
