Tradition ruled in the North Okanagan-Shuswap on election night, with a Conservative returned to power.
Preliminary election results showed incumbent Mel Arnold capturing the riding handily, winning close to 49 per cent of the vote.
Arnold is pleased with the strong victory.
鈥淚t鈥檚 rewarding after four years of work and hearing from the people and seeing the change across the country. The direction of this riding has taken a turn. I hope I can take that as a show of the trust that I鈥檝e built. It鈥檚 hard work, it鈥檚 nice to see if recognized. But there鈥檚 always more to learn.鈥�
Nationally, Arnold said he will wait and see how the final numbers pan out but, in North Okanagan-Shuswap, a win wasn鈥檛 unexpected.
鈥淚 guess no great surprises in this riding. I felt I had the support. I had a huge volunteer team helping out that just made it possible. Without the volunteers we couldn鈥檛 have done all this, so I want to give a great big thank you to them鈥︹��
With the Conservatives in Opposition nationally, Arnold, who was first elected in 2015, will remain a back bencher.
The riding has been Conservative, Alliance or Reform since 1993; prior to that election NDP Lyle MacWilliam was MP.
Liberal Cindy Derkaz, running in her second consecutive federal election in the riding and again polling second, was excited about the national outcome. As for the riding, she said the Conservatives won it 鈥渇air and square.鈥�
鈥淚 wanted to say this whole effort has been all about our community and about our team that has come together.
We have had tremendous support and tremendous effort from volunteers from all over this riding who carried this vision and wanted to see a Liberal MP sitting at this table. But, that is not to be. Fair and square, the Conservatives have once again taken this riding and I acknowledge that. I am going to congratulate Mr. Arnold the second I can get him on the phone.鈥�
Stay tuned for live updates on the 2019 federal election in the North Okanagan-Shuswap riding! First we hear from Liberal candidate Cindy Derkaz鈥� campaign team in Salmon Arm.
鈥� Salmon Arm Observer (@SalmonArm)
To exuberant cheers, Derkaz said the campaign and the volunteers impressed Justin Trudeau.
鈥淚 want you to know that Justin Trudeau called me on Friday morning and that was in the fight of his life; he took five minutes of his life to call the candidate in the North Okanagan-Shuswap riding鈥� He called because he said we had the attention of the national party who really saw the hard work and the numbers we鈥檝e done, the 35,000 attempts we made to talk to people and that鈥檚 unbelievable. He said the marketing we鈥檝e done was outstanding, the running shoe, the ads 鈥� across Canada we got noticed and that鈥檚 thanks to you here in this room with us.鈥�
NDP candidate Harwinder Sandhu, a newcomer to politics and in third place, said the people have sent a clear message by electing a minority government.
鈥淭hey want to have their voices heard. A lot of Canadians were hoping for proportional representation, as Trudeau promised in the last election. Polls today show 72 per cent want proportional representation. So I think that鈥檚 a clear message being sent.鈥�
North Okanagan-Shuswap NDP candidate Harwinder Sandhu's daughter Jasreen, 12, has the job of posting election night poll results at mom's Vernon campaign office.
鈥� Vernon Morning Star (@VernonNews)
Marc Reinarz said the Green Party makes inroads with every election, and he鈥檚 pleased with the Liberal minority.
鈥淚 think it is good for the country that the Conservatives won鈥檛 rule 鈥� I think that is a vote against youth and against the future of the planet.鈥�
He said if he can鈥檛 win, he鈥檚 glad the Liberals 鈥渉ave at least some intention鈥� of battling climate change.
Marc Reinarz thanks his supporters while announcing his intentions to run as the Green candidate next time around. During his campaign he says he鈥檚 learned what to do, and what not to do, for next time.
鈥� Brendan Shykora (@brendanshykora)
People鈥檚 Party candidate Kyle Delfing was happy his party had a chance to share its views.
鈥淭he supporters that we had in the beginning compared to now are, I鈥檓 going to say, tenfold. Maybe a hundredfold.鈥�
He added that his party is in its infancy and 鈥渧oters will need time to get to know them.鈥� He also noted that, 鈥渋f you look at the Conservative platform that came out nine days ago, they have a lot of PPC-like policies.鈥�
Read more:
The vote was a little different in the North Okanagan-Shuswap School District. Student voters at Salmon Arm Secondary put narrow support behind Conservative Mel Arnold who was first past the post with 94 votes. He was followed closely by Green Marc Reinarz and NDP Harwinder Sandhu who were neck and neck with 85. Coming in fourth was Liberal Cindy Derkaz with 58 votes followed by Kyle Delfing of the People鈥檚 Party with five.
marthawickett@saobserver.net
Like us on and follow us on
