Decisive win for Fraser
Liberal candidate returning to House of Commons for a second term
NEW GLASGOW, N.S. — As the Hall & Oates song “You Make My Dreams Come True” thumped from loudspeakers in the backroom of a downtown New Glasgow pub, Sean Fraser climbed onto a small stage, a winner in Central Nova again.
The first non-Conservative incumbent to take a second term, the Liberal MP’s decisive victory had him effusive in his praise for the army of supporters who worked on the election campaign, and seemingly grateful that voters are sending him back to Ottawa in a resounding way.
Following a brief speech, Fraser said in an interview that even with some polls indicating the race in his riding could be tight, he wasn’t worried about what the final results might be.
“Worried? No. The things that I worried about are far more serious than politics,” he said, with his supporters at The Dock still in celebration mode. “I worry about the health of my family, and whether people have enough to get by. But in terms of whether I was concerned that we would lose this election, I adopted the mindset that we were a hundred votes behind, and I never changed that mindset.
“I would not let myself look too deep into the polls. We just wanted to make sure that we ran the campaign that we wanted to run, one that would speak to the people, and I think we pulled it off.”
Fraser finished with 20,718 votes to win over his closest rival, Conservative George Canyon, who had 13,201 votes according to a preliminary count. NDP candidate Betsy MacDonald finished third with 5,896 votes. Green Candidate Barry Randle finished fourth with 3,478 votes.
“I feel we’ve worked hard enough to earn the win tonight, over the past four years and not just the past 40 days of the campaign. We communicated to people that we’re going to do what it takes to make progress for Pictou County, and the rest of the riding,” Fraser said. George Canyon thanks a supporter following his concession speech at The Spot in New Glasgow. “People reward hard work — that’s how Pictou County operates.”
Conservative George Canyon conceded defeat to his Liberal opponent at The Spot in New Glasgow.
“It’s very reminiscent of a TV show I was on 15 years ago,” Canyon said in his speech. “Finishing second worked out pretty well then.”
Canyon thanked his team and offered his congratulations to Fraser.
“Sean’s a good young man and he did good things for Central Nova,” Canyon said. “I pray that in going back to Parliament he’s going to be able to really dig in. He has a bit more maturity now about him because he’s spent the last four years there and he will be able to really step up and be the voice for Central Nova.”
NDP candidate Betsy MacDonald described it as a tremendously positive experience.
“It has been humbling to speak with voters and hear their concerns, and to learn about the range of issues in Central Nova,” she said. “It has been energizing and encouraging to experience the support we do have, and to see the opportunity we have to build the party in the riding of Central Nova. I feel like we have positive momentum and I look forward to continuing the work.”
Barry Randle, Green candidate, congratulated everyone on a “well-fought campaign” and spoke about the positive in-roads the Green Party made nationally, including the party’s first Parliament seat in Eastern Canada.
“We moved the conversation forward considerably. The Liberals are now talking zero carbon emissions by 2050, which they weren’t before,” he said. “There was some great gains. We doubled our vote here and we got Jenica Atwin in Fredericton. There’s change in the cards, I just hope we can do it quickly enough.”
Also running in this fall’s election in Central Nova were Communist candidate Chris Frazer (179 votes), People’s Party of Canada candidate Al Muir (938) and Independent Michael Slowik (149).