Carrie, O’Toole re-elected
Oshawa and Durham MPs will be members of the opposition under a Liberal majority government led by Justin Trudeau
Colin Carrie shakes the hand of a supporter after learning he had been re-elected as the MP for Oshawa. Carrie, along with fellow Conservative Erin O’Toole in the Durham riding were the only two in the region to be re-elected after Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party took 184 seats on its way to a majority government. Carrie will now be a member of the opposition for the first time since 2006. O’Toole, who was first elected in a 2012 by-election, has never sat as a member of the opposition before.
By Graeme McNaughton/The Oshawa Express
It was a bittersweet evening for Colin Carrie – he remains in place as the MP for Oshawa, but his party is no longer leading the country.
The MP for Oshawa since 2004, Carrie told a crowd of supporters that while the rest of the country wanted change, Oshawa still went blue. However, this doesn’t mean he’s pleased with the final result, which will see him sitting as a member of the opposition for the first time since 2006.
“Of course it’s disappointing, but Canadians have voted, obviously, for change and we’re happy to serve in any way we can in the government that Canada chooses,” Carrie
Newly re-elected Colin Carrie hugs NDP challenger Mary Fowler after she came to congratulate the Oshawa incumbent on his victory.
said of the election results. “I’m looking forward to this mandate and whatever role I have.”
Looking at the return to Parliament Hill, Carrie says he is looking forward to sitting in the position he did when he first started as an MP.
“I’ve been around long enough that I was in opposition before, so it is a different role but it is something that I do enjoy, and I look forward to serving my community in whatever way I can,” he said.
With the leader of Carrie’s party, Stephen Harper, stepping down following his party’s demotion to opposition, the Oshawa MP says it is too early to say who should be at the helm.
“There are other things that are more important right now,” Carrie told The Oshawa Express on Tuesday. “For me, here in Oshawa, I’m just focusing on the community and getting back to work.”
According to Elections Canada, the preliminary results had Carrie garnering 38.2 per cent of the popular vote, beating out NDP candidate Mary Fowler’s 31.8 per cent and Liberal candidate Tito-Dante Marimpietri’s 27.3 per cent.
“This has been such an exciting campaign, a real three-way race,” Carrie said to a room of supporters in his victory speech. “It truly was a drawn out nailbiter, but to come out on top has made me so proud.”
Carrie’s result marks a slide in the polls compared to the previous election in 2011, when he had 51.13 per cent of the vote. In fact, this marked Carrie’s lowest share of the vote since he was first elected in 2004 with 33.2 per cent.
Carrie and Durham MP Erin O’Toole are the only two Conservative MPs to maintain their seats in the region.
In the newly created Whitby riding, Pat Perkins – who had been elected in a by-election last year in the former Whitby-Oshawa riding to replace former MP Jim Flaherty – was defeated by Liberal Celina Caesar-Chavannes, who had run against the former Whitby mayor last year.
In Ajax, former Liberal MP Mark Holland is making his return to Parliament Hill, beating out the man who beat him in 2011, Chris Alexander of the Conservatives.
In the Pickering-Uxbridge riding, Liberal Jennifer O’Connell beat out Conservative incumbent Corneliu Chisu.