Conservative Ed Fast will once again represent the Abbotsford riding in Parliament.
With 87 per cent of ballots counted, Fast had claimed half of all votes. Liberal Seamus Heffernan had pulled in about 22 per cent, while the NDP’s Madeleine Sauve had appeared on around 18 per cent of ballots.
The Green’s Stephen Fowler claimed eight per cent of votes, while People’s Party candidate Locke Duncan was on two per cent of ballots and Aeriol Alderking was chosen by 0.5 per cent of voters.
This is the fifth time Fast has prevailed in a federal election.
More than 140 of Fast’s supporters, friends and family gathered in a large room at the Sandman Inn in Abbotsford on Monday night.
They let out a large cheer when broadcasters announced Fast’s imminent victory. But while supporters cheered the solid results by local Conservatives – particularly Brad Vis in Mission-Matsqui-Fraser Canyon – they were left disappointed as the Liberals look set to claim more than 150 seats and form a minority government.
Fast called voters’ decision a “mixed result” in a speech to supporters after he was announced as the victor. Locally, he said his victory was a big win, as was that of Vis, his former staffer.
But he said all politicians will have to “work together like we’ve never worked together before” to make the next minority government work.
“It will be very interesting to see what happens in Ottawa.”
Fast said he looks forward to taking part in the process; he later told The News that could mean working on committees.
Fast also thanked his volunteers, as well as opposing candidates, who he hailed for disagreeing in an “agreeable” manner.
Speaking to The News after his speech, Fast said the nationwide result suggested voters wanted change, but weren’t sure what type of change they wanted.
“Justin Trudeau lost a majority government when everybody was saying there is no way he should be losing that majority government.”
The Conservatives were leading or elected in 122 ridings as of 10 p.m. – more than they entered the election in, but much less than would be needed for the majority government Andrew Scheer said he wanted.
Asked what the results said about the ideas put forward by the Conservatives, Fast said, “We had a great platform” and that “the results aren’t reflective of the type of platform we had.”
But he also said the Conservatives had done everything possible to persuade Canadians they were the right choice.
“We certainly left it all out there on the playing field. In my mind, we did everything we possibly could to promote our Conservative values, and the results here in Abbotsford certainly speak for themselves. Across the country we would have preferred to see a few more Conservative seats, but … that’s democracy and I accept the verdict of the Canadian people.”
Watch abbynews.com for the latest vote totals reported by Elections Canada.
RELATED: LIVE: Results coming in for Mission-Matsqui-Fraser Canyon, Abbotsford ridings
