Carrie, O’Toole say Conservatives will hold Trudeau accountable

By Dave Flaherty/The Oshawa Express

As the political spectrum in Oshawa shifted to a Liberal minority, things in Oshawa stayed pretty much the same.
With 240 polls reporting, veteran MP Colin Carrie took 38.9 per cent (23,989 votes) of the vote to take the Oshawa riding for the sixth straight election. He originally captured the seat first in the 2004 election.
Despite the Liberals dominating across Ontario, Carrie staved off NDP candidate Shailene Panylo (17,531 votes, 28.5 per cent) and the Liberals’ Afroza Hossain (15,592 votes, 25.3 per cent).
The Green Party’s Jovannah Ramsden (3,117 votes, 5.1 per cent), People’s Party Eric MacKenzie (1, 276 votes, 2.1 per cent) and Communist Party candidate Jeff Tomlinson (109 votes, 0.02 per cent) were a distant fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.
Speaking to his supporters at Whisky John’s, Carrie said he was “humbled” to be re-elected again.
He joked that when he first entered federal politics he didn’t expect this.
“I remember back in 2004 [my wife Elizabeth] says ‘This political thing, how long do you think you’re going to do it’,” Carrie remarked. “I said, ‘Well, it takes maybe a couple of years.’ And here it is, our sixth victory.”
While Carrie said he had hoped the Conservatives could form government, he noted the party had actually won the popular vote.
He claimed Trudeau and the Liberals inherited a “united country” but have created division.
“We’re seeing now the rise in Quebec of the Bloc Quebecois, we’re seeing the west being very dissatisfied, and we’re seeing it in the numbers, so I’ve got to tell you, after four years of Justin Trudeau, his [and his party’s] numbers are down in every single area of the country, except for the Northwest Territories,” Carrie told his supporters.
Carrie said he and his fellow Conservatives would be watching the Liberals very closely.
“We’re going to hold him to account, we’re going to keep him to account, and I’ve got to tell ya, next time around for sure, we’re going to have a solid Conservative majority,” Carrie said.
In the riding of Durham, which includes sections of north Oshawa, Erin O’Toole captured the riding for the third time, including his initial victory in a 2012 by-election to replace Bev Oda.
With 307 poles reporting, O’Toole (30,627 votes, 42.3 per cent) topped his closest rival, Liberal Johnathan Giancroce (23,299 votes. 32.2 per cent).
The NDP’s Sarah Whalen-Wright (13,144 votes, 18.1 per cent), Green Party’s Evan Price (3,881 votes, 5.4 per cent), and Brenda Virtue (1,472 votes, two per cent) of the People’s Party of Canada rounded out the vote.
O’Toole was met with thunderous applause as he entered in victory Monday night.
“Thank you, Durham,” O’Toole exclaimed.
He said he was thrilled to “remain a strong voice in Durham,” and with gains across the country, the Conservative team will “hold Justin Trudeau to account.”
He said he would be a strong voice for the military and veterans in Parliament.
“Every time I stand in the House of Commons, I think of the Canadians who are vulnerable and often feeling like they are left behind,” O’Toole said.
Other ridings in Durham were dominated by the Liberals, with incumbents Jennifer O’Connell (Pickering-Uxbridge) and Mark Holland (Ajax) handily winning re-election, while first-time candidate Ryan Turbull took Whitby.

– with files from Chris Jones