John Duncan beams late Tuesday night after taking a five-point lead in the polls. His victory looked almost certain at 11:15 p.m. with only eight polls left to report results.
Email
Print
Letter to Editor
ShareDuncan recaptures Vancouver Island North
By Grant Warkentin - Campbell River Mirror
Published: October 14, 2008 8:35 PM
Updated: October 15, 2008 8:12 AM
Conservative John Duncan has recaptured the Vancouver Island North riding.
At midnight with all polls reporting in, Duncan had nearly a five-point lead over incumbent NDP MP Catherine Bell, more than enough to send the former MP back to Ottawa.
"That's fantastic," he said. "This feels great. We worked very hard for it, we can tell you that."
Duncan's return to Parliament marks the first time in over 30 years the Vancouver Island North riding has elected an MP that is part of the party in government.
"That's what's motivated me (being part of the governing party)," he said. "I've thought over the past year and a half I could make a difference for B.C. and I wasn't there."
Bell was gracious in defeat.
"I think he'll be a very good MP for the riding," she told supporters in Courtenay. "He was in the past."
See related story for more of her comments.
By midnight the Conservatives had formed another minority government but had made some gains in their total seats since the 2006 election. Preliminary national results showed they had captured 143 seats compared to 76 by the Liberals, 50 by the Bloc Quebecois, 37 by the NDP and two by others. They would have needed at least 155 seats to form a majority government.
Vancouver Island North preliminary election results
- John Duncan (Conservative):45.8 per cent (26,166 votes)
- Catherine Bell (NDP):41.4 per cent (23,681 votes)
- Philip Stone (Green):8.0 per cent (4,563 votes)
- Geoff Fleischer (Liberal):4.2 per cent (2,391 votes)
- Jason Draper (Independent):0.6 per cent (361 votes)
Polls reporting: 298 of 298
Voter turnout: 57,162 of 87,084 registered electors (65.6 per cent)
