With a close battle unfolding until the last polls were counted, Vancouver Island North Conservative candidate John Duncan accepted his sixth win in the riding Monday night in a tight race against NDP newcomer Ronna-Rae Leonard.
"It's been a long campaign. I've worked hard in this riding for many, many years. We're now a majority government, and I'm delighted to be part of it," said Duncan during his victory speech in Courtenay.
In front of large, cheering crowd at the Bamboo Garden Restaurant, Duncan told supporters how happy he was with both his win, and a majority win for his Conservative Party.
"I'm so delighted for the riding, the team that helped get me here ... we did everything possible to win the riding, and we'll certainly work hard to represent the diverse interest of the riding over the next four years," he added.
While the numbers of votes flip-flopped between Duncan and Leonard for the lead throughout the evening, Duncan surged ahead late, receiving an unofficial 27,184 votes (46.12 per cent of the popular vote), while Leonard picked up 25,385 votes (43.06 per cent), and Liberal Mike Holland trailing with 3,038 votes. Green Party candidate Sue Moen placed a close fourth with 2,995 votes, while Independent Jason Draper received 290 votes and Marxist-Leninist candidate Frank Martin received 56 votes.
Duncan received a congratulatory call from Leonard earlier in the evening, but refused to accept the win at that point.
"She wanted to congratulate me, and I said it was too early. In the last election, the NDP candidate here had made a victory speech, and of course, she didn't win. I wanted more results to come in," he noted.
As the riding has proven historically to be a close battleground between the NDP and Conservatives, Duncan said it's that close competition that fuelled his energy for his seventh attempt to represent the riding.
"I enjoy politics. I get energized by politics and people. You know I was thinking seven elections, and I was out door-knocking and enjoying every moment of it. How many people would be able to say that? It was great, and it was great to be able to do that with a great team," he added.
"The country went (in the Conservative) direction in this election. I've always said that we were just one election earlier then the rest of the country. It all depends on some degree who the candidates are .... but it's definitely a two-way race here."
Earlier in the evening following the confirmation of a Conservative majority, Duncan hinted at the possibility of a major transformation for the Liberal Party.
"If you're a student of history, this is almost what happened with the Liberal Party of England after World War Two, and you kind of ended up with a permanent restructuring where you have Labour and Conservative parties. I think maybe that's where we're headed in Canada. It could be very interesting," he said.
"I think inevitably if there's only two parties instead of four, we're going to have both parties moving towards the middle somehow, because the NDP platform is unsaleable as government."
With a resounding Conservative majority, and two party leaders losing their seats, Duncan noted the overall significance of the evening.
"I don't know if this has ever happened before, it's very historic, and very interesting. I think when Parliament dissolved at the end of March, Mr. Duceppe looked like the cat that swallowed the canary. I think he thought he was sailing just fine and now his party has disintegrated and he's lost his seat. This is going to really change the face of politics in Canada."
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