Jonathan Wilkinson of the Liberal Party has been re-elected as the member of Parliament for North Vancouver–Capilano.
With 190 of 219 polls reporting Monday night, Wilkinson had 54.7 per cent of the vote, holding a strong lead over the Conservatives’ Stephen Curran with 37.3 per cent.
Tammy Bentz of the NDP had 5.3 per cent of the vote, the Greens’ Andrew Robinson had 2.1 per cent and Eshan Arjmand of the People’s Party had 0.5 per cent.
After the results became clear that Wilkinson would secure his fourth term in the riding, he took to the podium at the Pinnacle Hotel in North Van to address a rosy room of supporters.
He said the key issue in this election was leadership.
“It's about how do we manage our way through this complicated conversation we are going to have with the Americans about tariffs and everything else, and do so in a manner that allows us to continue to move forward economically,” Wilkinson said, adding that the relationship between the two countries will never return to the way it was before.
The leader that Canadians voted for is Prime Minister Mark Carney, whom Wilkinson said he’s had the good fortune of knowing for 25 years.
“Carney is an enormously capable fellow who has served in the most senior levels of public service in Canada and elsewhere, the most senior levels of the private sector in Canada and elsewhere,” he said. “He is somebody that if you actually looked at what Canada needs today in terms of somebody to lead, and you went across the country to try to find somebody that fit that requirement, you'd be hard pressed to find somebody better.”
In contrast to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, whom Wilkinson chartacterized as a career politician with little other credentials, “the choice was pretty clear,” he said.
Speaking with the North Shore News, Wilkinson thanked all the other candidates in his riding for running, as well as all the supporters – those who voted for him and those who didn’t.
“You have to thank the citizens who voted for you. And I thank those but … I always say, irrespective of who voted for me, I am the MP for every person in this riding,” he said.
Curran, who’s election night event was held across the street at The Pipe Shop, also expressed his appreciation for everyone who participated in the election.
“I think that I had some great conversations with people,” he said. “At the end of the day, I know that they didn't agree with me and they didn't support me. I bear no malice towards those people, though. I think that having honest and open conversations and debates is the way that we work out our problems.”
Curran added that his work with the Conservative Party will continue.
“There's a lot that we were talking about during this campaign that is really the direction I’d like to see the country go in on a lot of different issues, and so I'd like to continue to help with that project,” he said. “I just don't know at this point what capacity it will be in.”
What's the riding's history?
What had been a flip-flop riding in the 2000s has become a safe bet for the Liberal Party under Wilkinson.
Wilkinson cruised to victory with nearly 45 per cent of the vote in 2021, compared to Conservative Les Jickling's 28 per cent. The NDP’s Bentz received 20 per cent of the popular vote, the Greens got about five per cent and the People’s Party received just less than three per cent.
Historically, the riding has swung back and forth between the Liberals and Conservatives. It was a Conservative stronghold from the 1980s up until 2004 when Liberal Don Bell was elected.
In 2008, Conservative Andrew Saxton took the seat back for the Conservatives. In 2015, Wilkinson rode the Liberal wave to victory, and retained his seat in 2019.
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