The NDP won the northern ridings in Manitoba and Saskatchewan in Monday’s federal election, but whether the result stands in the latter constituency remains to be seen.
Niki Ashton secured re-election in northern Manitoba’s Churchill-Keewatinook Aski riding. She won a tense contest with Liberal Rebecca Chartrand, whose party translated its national momentum into a majority government.
“I’ve always said my number one commitment is to fight for every community in our North,” said Ashton, “and I certainly look forward to continuing to do that from here on in again.”
With 96 per cent of polls reporting as of yesterday afternoon, Ashton was leading Chartrand by 1,555 votes – a comfortable enough margin for Chartrand to concede.
At one point late Monday, Chartrand trailed by just 102 votes before Ashton widened the gap.
“There’s no question that the support that the people were showing towards the Liberals was quite evident across the country and I think obviously we saw that in our riding as well,” Ashton said.
As she prepares for her third term, Ashton admitted she was surprised by national results that saw the NDP fall to third-party status with 44 seats.
“I’m saddened to see the losses we had in a number of parts of the country,” she said. “Obviously…some great colleagues are no longer part of the team, but what’s clear is also we saw some great gains in northern parts of the country, including northern Saskatchewan.”
In northern Saskatchewan’s Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River riding, incumbent Conservative Rob Clarke lost his seat to newcomer Georgina Jolibois of the NDP.
Jolibois was declared the winner by 70 votes over Liberal Lawrence Joseph in a seesaw battle that came down to the final poll.
“It was certainly a very close race and when it was over, of course I was feeling happy with the result,” Jolibois said Tuesday morning.
“I worked really hard on the campaign. I went to reserves, I went to communities…and I was able to make one-on-one contact through door-knocking and attending events. I went to where the people are at and I shared my stories with them and they shared their stories with me.”
But Joseph could challenge the result. Speaking to The Reminder early Tuesday, he said he received reports of problems at the polls that hindered voter turnout.
He said he was told that in his home community of Big River, election officials twice ran out of ballots.
“When they went to get [more] ballots, a lot of people that lined up to vote did not come back,” said Joseph. “So you could assume that all of those people, especially from my home community, were my voters.”
He also said he was told election officials on the Ahtahkakoop reserve did not have ballots to begin the voting at the proper time.
“Obviously there’s irregularities and obviously Elections Canada dropped the ball in some places,” Joseph said.
Jolibois said Tuesday morning she had not spoken with Joseph and had not heard reports of such irregularities.
She said she was aware of some people being unable to vote because they lacked proper ID. She also believed some people did not vote because polls closed with a lineup still present.
Voters wondered whether Joseph would seek a recount, but when asked whether a whole new election in the riding would be required to address the problems he cited, he agreed, saying, “At this point in time, that is probably the situation.”
“There [are] enough people out there that will definitely provide necessary information and/or evidence [of problems],” Joseph said, “because [the result] is too close and I think the 10,000 people who actually voted for me deserve clarity on what happened and [to] make sure everything was on the up and up.”
Jolibois was taking a wait-and-see approach.
“I’m going by what was announced [Monday] night in terms of results, and I will wait for further information if any other developments arise from anyone,” she said.
Back in Churchill-Keewatinook Aski, Liberal Rebecca Chartrand mounted an ambitious campaign to supplant Ashton.
Chartrand conceded the election well past midnight on election night but added, “I feel like we won in a lot of ways.”
“I think if you take a look at the numbers that are still rolling in, we’re going to see a much greater turnout than previous elections,” she said. “That speaks volumes. People in the North want change and I think our biggest shortcoming was not having the finances we needed to back a campaign. We absolutely had the momentum, but we didn’t have the money to put in in getting out the vote in communities.
“We shook up the North. We know there’s been strong allegiance to the NDP, but again there are many unhappy people in the riding as well, because they feel their issues have been ignored. So moving forward, the incumbent is going to have to work much harder to secure the votes.”
Chartrand lives in Winnipeg – a sore point for some voters – but she said she would have “absolutely” moved into the riding had she won.
Asked whether she will run again, she said she would take time to consider that question.
In Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River, incumbent Clarke earned 30 per cent of the vote in a losing effort. He had been MP since a March 2008 by-election and was perhaps best known for authoring a bill to change the Indian Act.
Nationally, Canadians elected a majority Liberal government led by Justin Trudeau. With 40 per cent of the vote, the Grits took 184 seats in the expanded 338-seat House of Commons.
Stephen Harper’s Conservatives fell to 32 per cent of the vote and 99 seats to form the official opposition. Harper has resigned as Conservative leader.
The NDP dropped to 20 per cent of the vote and lost 51 seats, for a total of 44 members. Leader Tom Mulcair is staying on – at least for now.
The Bloc Québécois showed renewed signs of life by winning 10 seats. The Green Party took a single seat, the one belonging to leader Elizabeth May.
Voter turnout in both northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan was unusually high. In Churchill-Keewatinook Aski, 64 per cent of voters cast ballots with seven polls left to report. That compares to results from the former Churchill riding of 45 per cent in 2011 and 40 per cent in 2008.
In Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River, turnout was 68 per cent on Monday. It was 52 per cent in 2011 and 45 per cent in 2008.
How we voted
Churchill-Keewatinook Aski
*Niki Ashton, NDP 14,469 votes 46%
Rebecca Chartrand, LIB 12,914 votes 41%
Kyle Mirecki, CON 3,071 votes 10%
August Hastmann, GRN 548 votes 2%
Zachary Linnick, LBT 252 votes 1%
(150 of 157 polls reporting)
Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River
Georgina Jolibois, NDP 10,300 votes 34%
Lawrence Joseph, LIB 10,230 votes 34%
*Rob Clarke, CON 9,110 30%
Warren Koch, GRN 552 votes 2%
(181 of 181 polls reporting)
* Incumbent
