Liberal takes Scarborough-Agincourt seat once held by husband
OTTAWA— Liberal Jean Yip declared victory to keep the ScarboroughAgincourt riding in the family Monday night, with a win in a sevenperson field.
The Liberals were on track to retain a second safe seat and the Conservatives on course to hang onto a safe seat of their own in three of four federal byelections held Monday.
The Scarborough-Agincourt riding was left vacant by the death of Yip’s husband, Arnold Chan, of cancer in September. Her nearest competitor was banker Dasong Zou, running for the Conservatives. But the outcome was widely expected: the Liberals have held Scarborough-Agincourt for three decades. “I’m happy and I know Arnold would be happy with the kind of campaign we ran,” Yip said.
“I’m never going to stop meeting the residents of Scarborough-Agincourt. I’ll continue to knock on their door, hear their concerns, and work very hard for them in the constituen- cy, as well as in Ottawa.”
Chan had held the seat for only six months when his cancer diagnosis was made in 2014. He underwent radiation and chemotherapy, but in March 2016, the cancer was back. He lived another 18 months.
Yip said her first priority would be to seek federal funds for the Bridletowne Community Hub and funding for senior spaces and youth programs.
This byelection would not be a oneoff, she promised. “I plan to run again. You don’t put in this hard work and say ‘thanks very much.’ I am totally committed to representing the residents of Scarborough-Agin- court. I don’t do things half way.”
In Newfoundland and Labrador, the Liberals easily retained Bonavista-Burin-Trinity, the safest Liberal seat in the country.
With all polls reporting, Liberal Churence Rogers captured 69.2 per cent of the vote — 46 percentage points ahead of his nearest competitor, Conservative Mike Windsor, who nevertheless managed to double his share of the vote from the 2015 general election.
With 90 of138 polls reporting in the safe Tory riding of Battlefords-Lloyd minster in Saskatchewan, Conservative Rosemarie Falk enjoyed a commanding lead with 68.8 per cent of the vote, more than 50 points ahead of any of her competitors.
Battlefords-Lloydminster was left vacant following the retirement of veteran Conservative MP Gerry Ritz, who had held the riding for 20 years.
The B.C. contest was the only one where the seat could change hands. The Liberals were hoping to wrest the seat from the Conservatives.
Results were just starting to trickle in late last night in the one riding — British Columbia’s South Surrey— White Rock — where the Liberals were hoping to score an upset over the Conservatives.