Cowichan-Malahat-Langford will be represented by Alistair MacGregor for another four years.
The incumbent NDP MP was re-elected on Monday night, defeating five other candidates to retain his seat.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you for the amount of hours you’ve put in,” he said to his supporters at the Duncan Community Lodge shortly after 9:15 p.m. “This campaign would not have come home without all your efforts so thank you, thank you for all of that.”
MacGregor earned 23,095 votes, just over 36 per cent of the ballots cast. Conservative candidate Alana DeLong was second with 16456, followed by Lydia Hwitsum of the Green Party with 12,880.
National numbers projected a Liberal minority government with 157 of 338 seats, followed by the Conservatives with 121, the Bloc Québécois with 32 and the NDP with 24. There are three Green MPs, including two on Vancouver Island, and one independent.
“We’ve made our decision,” MacGregor said. “It’s time for us all to come together because we all know that this country has got some big challenges. It’s going to require a lot of people coming together, especially in a minority Parliament setting. Again, congratulations to them.”
MacGregor reflected on the challenges of running for a second time.
“I looked at how this campaign unfolded and they were right, the second campaign is the hardest to win,” he said to laughter. “I knew full well what to expect this time and it didn’t make it any less nerve-racking, right up to the end. I honestly didn’t know how this was going to turn out. But I look at the platform that we were running on, I think you can sum it up in one sentence, as New Democrats we realize that in our pursuit of environmental justice, it cannot be achieved unless you have social justice and economic justice.
“There are people in this community who are hurting. There are people in this community who are suffering. There are people in this community that don’t have adequate housing and who are falling through the cracks in our health care system and I want those people to know that I am going to be fighting for them in the 43rd Parliament.”
MacGregor praised the efforts of NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, who was re-elected in his own Burnaby South riding.
“I have never been prouder to be a New Democrat to see how our leader handled this campaign,” he said, noting Singh’s difficult upbringing and lifetime of facing racism and more. “All of these things that were stacked against him from an early age and to see the person he is now: someone with grace, humility, compassion… and I think Canadians really got to see that shine through in this election and I am really excited for the path this man, our leader, is going to take in the 43rd Parliament.”
