Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose – the French term about the more things change, the more they stay the same rang true following Monday night’s federal election.
Justin Trudeau and the Liberals retained a minority government, and our local ridings stayed blue.
In Chatham-Kent–Leamington, Dave Epp handily defeated Liberal candidate Greg Hetherington by more than 6,000 votes, outdistancing him 21,605 to 15,054 (results as of 9 a.m. Tuesday)
Meanwhile, in Lambton-Kent-Middlesex, Conservative Lianne Rood was re-elected easily, garnering 28,517 votes against 12,011 for her closest competitor, Liberal Sudit Ranade.
Across the country, the Liberals took 158 seats, with the Conservatives nabbing 119, the Bloc Quebecois 34, the NDP 25, and the Green Party two.
Strength in the Montreal and Toronto areas helped carry the election for the Liberals
Apparently, calling an election in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic and just two years into his mandate didn’t hurt Trudeau and the Liberals seat-wise.
In 2019, they won 157 seats against 121 for the Conservatives, 32 for the Bloc, 24 for the NDP and three for the Greens.
The distribution of the popular vote was also similar to 2019, with the lone exception being the Green Party. Their numbers tanked, from nearly 1.2 million votes across the country to just 371,000. But they only had one fewer member elected.
The Conservatives again won the popular vote, outdistancing the Liberals 5,432,041 to 5,155,947, but the results did not correspond to forming government
The People’s Party of Canada, despite loud rallies and vocal supporters, did not win a seat. In Chatham-Kent–Leamington, candidate Liz Vallee finished fourth, just behind the NDP’s Dan Gelinas.
