Coe wins byelection
Whitby councillor walks away with more than half of vote
Progressive Conservative candidate Lorne Coe was the victor in the Whitby-Oshawa provincial byelection, walking away with more than half of the votes. Coe tells The Oshawa Express he plans to get started at Queen’s Park after Family Day. Photo by Graeme McNaughton/The Oshawa Express
By Graeme McNaughton/The Oshawa Express
Lorne Coe has found himself a new job.
The Whitby regional councillor handedly won the Whitby-Oshawa provincial byelection for the Progressive Conservatives, walking away with just under 53 per cent of the vote, well ahead of second-place Liberal candidate and fellow councillor Elizabeth Roy, who finished with 27.5 per cent.
“I think what earned the win for us tonight was being very clear and holding the Liberal government to account for the high electricity prices and healthcare cuts. It really resonated with people in this particular riding because it affected their families on a day-to-day basis,” Coe said after learning he had been the victor in the vote.
“Going to the doors, I asked the residents in the riding what the effect on their families was, and collectively, as you saw in the results tonight, they stood up and sent a message to the Wynne government that they’ve had enough. They want a new direction here in Ontario.”
Also in attendance at the event was PC leader Patrick Brown, himself the winner of a byelection in September in the Simcoe North riding.
“It’s nice to see that sunny ways have come with blue skies here in Whitby-Oshawa,” Brown said, referring to a line used by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the recent federal election. “(We went from) a nine-per-cent margin in the last election to 24 per cent today. It’s a sign of things to come across the province.”
Coe tells The Oshawa Express that he hopes to be sworn in to Queen’s Park some time next week.
Roy, who lost a provincial runoff for the second time, told her supporters that she isn’t looking at the double-digit margin between her and Coe as a negative.
“Tonight is not a loss, tonight is an opportunity for us to move forward,” she said during a speech to supporters after learning she had not won the provincial spot. “To say that this election is a loss, no it’s not, it’s a win. It was such an opportunity…to be able to connect with residents, to understand what is happening here for all of us.”
For more information, please see the next edition of The Oshawa Express.
– with files from Joel Wittnebel