A former Green MP who defected to the Liberals in June was in a tight race, and Justin Trudeau lost at least two cabinet ministers when voters judged the winners and losers in Monday’s federal election.
Jenica Atwin made headlines as Eastern Canada’s first Green MP in 2019 after taking New Brunswick’s capital Fredericton from liberals, but was fending off a tough challenge from conservative Andrea Johnson, an economic development expert. .
Atwin trailed most of the night, but took a small lead of 501 votes with only one polling station to report after midnight.
When the first results came in, Atwin told CBC that she switched parties because “it was really difficult to get things done” as a green MP. The Greens had fallen to a distant fourth behind the NDP, dashing hopes that the match would be competitive.
Conservatives enjoyed other gains in the Atlantic, with businessman Rick Perkins ousting the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, Bernadette Jordan, in Nova Scotia riding South Shore – St. Margarets.
In Ontario, Trudeau’s Minister for Women, Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development lost control of Peterborough – Kawartha.
Maryam Monsef, first chosen to ride in 2015, fell to conservative Michelle Ferreri, an entrepreneur.
Other constituencies were being closely watched as results were slowly tabulated after polls closed in Quebec, Ontario and points west at 9:30 p.m. ET.
The first of these were Spadina – Fort York, where liberal MP Adam Vaughan decided at the last minute not to run again and the party chose Kevin Vuong as its candidate.
But Liberals recalled Vuong on Saturday, two days after “pausing” his campaign after the Star revealed he had faced a sexual assault charge that was dropped two years ago.
Vuong had a slight advantage over Democratic candidate Norm Di Pasquale, a member of the Toronto Catholic District School Board, in the first results after midnight.
Liberal candidate Leah Taylor Roy won a 2019 rematch at Aurora-Oak-Ridges-Richmond Hill over Conservative MP Leona Alleslev.
Taylor Roy lost the race by just over 1,000 votes in the last election.
Alleslev won the race as a Liberal in 2015 before switching parties.
On Hamilton Mountain, former Welland Democratic MP Malcolm Allen, defeated by Liberals there in 2015, was making a comeback attempt in this race that has been NDP since 2006, but Liberal candidate and former CHCH-TV reporter Lisa Hepfner was way ahead after midnight.
Mike Morrice won the Kitchener Center for the Green Party. The party had high hopes for where they ranked second in 2019 and Liberal MP Raj Saini recently resigned as a candidate on allegations that he harassed a female employee. However, his name remained on the ballot.
In Essex outside Windsor, former Democratic MP Tracey Ramsey, who lost her seat to Conservative Chris Lewis in 2019, was also making a comeback attempt. But Lewis was victorious again.
And in Windsor West, former Ontario Liberal Cabinet Minister Sandra Pupatello lost in her second attempt to remove veteran Democratic Rep. Brian Masse.
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Reference-www.thestar.com