Zann’s set for Ottawa
Liberals capture Cumberlandcolchester in hotly-contested battle to the end
TRURO, N.S. – Lenore Zann will soon be making her way to Ottawa.
It was a close race between Liberal candidate Zann and Conservative Party candidate Scott Armstrong on election night.
The lead changed several times over the course of the evening before Zann emerged as Mp-elect for Cumberlandcolchester riding.
“It was like a rollercoaster ride, but I’ve learned that life is like a rollercoaster and you have to hang on, and I did that,” said Zann. “It was nail biting, but I knew that whatever happened everything would be okay.
“My poor mum; it was pretty nerve wracking for her. Just like when I used to perform, my mother was always nervous.”
Her father, Paul Zann, was more relaxed during the evening. He’d predicted Lenore would win by about 300 votes and that there would be a Liberal minority government.
“She’ll speak her mind and they’ll all hear what she really thinks and I think Trudeau maybe is the kind who will actually listen to her,” he said.
“She’s a very sincere person, she’ll help anybody and she doesn’t play party politics.”
The matchup quickly turned into a see-saw battle between the two seasoned politicians. Nothing was decided until it was down to the last 25 of 220 polls yet to come in. Zann regained the lead by 33 votes at that point and continued to climb to her 453-vote margin of victory.
Zann drew 16,672 votes to Armstrong’s 16,219.
Jason Blanch of the Green Party had quite a night, finishing third with 6,015 votes, ahead of NDP candidate Larry Duchesne with 5,451. William Archer (PPC), Matthew Rushton (Ind.), Jody O’blenis (VCP) and Stephen Garvey (NCA) rounded out the field.
Bill Casey, who served as the riding’s Member of Parliament for several years, supported Zann throughout her campaign and was with her as the election results came in.
“This was different because I never had an election as close as this one,” he said.
“This one was only four votes apart at times and went back and forth. It was a nailbiter.
“The people have spoken and they will have a representative who will work hard for them. We need a good voice for the people in Cumberland Colchester, and we have one.”
Zann expressed appreciation for her team and said she was proud of the fact that they ran a positive campaign.
“I’m really excited because this just feels like it’s the right time and right thing for me to do next,” she added.
“We all know our lives are finite, and I have a certain amount of energy and I feel ready to put it into this riding and work for the people of this area and Canada. I intend to work really hard to make a difference.”
Zann will be the second female to represent the riding at the federal level. Dianne Brushett served at MP from 1993 to 1997.
TRURO, N.S. – As in sports, it’s the close losses that sting the most.
“Oh yeah, it’s a stressful night when you have a rollercoasterclose race like this,” candidate Scott Armstrong said of his bid to regain the Cumberland-colchester MP’S seat.
“It’s kind of like in sports when I coach, it always hurts worse to lose a close game than to get blown out. But when you look back, it’s the close games, even the losses, that you really remember. And we will remember this as one of the best campaigns that we ran. It was just not our turn this time.”
Shortly before 1 a.m., Tuesday, with six polls still to count but trailing by almost 500 votes to Liberal candidate Lenore Zann, Armstrong wasn’t quite ready to toss in the towel. But given the late hour – and the fact his supporters had jobs to go to in the morning – he encouraged those who wished, to take their leave.
But he didn’t want them going with thoughts of regret on his behalf.
“There are very few people in life who get to live their dream,” he told his remaining supporters. “And my dream growing up was to be a member of Parliament. I watched Bob Coates when I was six years old, speaking during an election. And I didn’t quite know what he was saying or what he was doing but I knew that was something I wanted to do.”
Armstrong realized his dream by becoming an MP in 2009, an accomplishment “I will always cherish,” he said.
He lost his seat to Liberal Bill Casey in 2015 but neither that defeat nor the one he faced in this election could diminish that earlier triumph
“So, no matter what happens tonight, whether we pull off the last-second win or we don’t pull off the last-second win, you don’t have to worry about Scott Armstrong because there’s some school that needs a principal, there’s a team that needs a coach, there’s a community organization that needs some leadership and some support. So, I’ll be just fine,” he said, to loud applause.
In thanking his campaign team, his supporters and his family, Armstrong also credited his local opponents for their “civility” and for sticking to the issues.
“I do think that in this campaign, our local candidates that came from Cumberland Colchester, ran campaigns here, we ran a very civil campaign. We talked about policy issues, there was zero personal attacks, our campaign teams respected people as well,” he said. “To all of them and their teams, congratulations on their civility and the focus on policy. And I can truly say I am walking away from this with my head held high and I think they all should as well.”
Although the night’s close results were “disappointing” – at some points in the count, he and Zann were as little as two votes apart – that conclusion did not detract from the type of campaign his team ran.
“I don’t remember one in our area this close, to change the lead so many times,” he said. “I really think this is one we will talk about for many, many years.”
And, despite the loss, Armstrong said there was nothing for him or his team to feel badly about.
“You should be prepared to win and do the job if you get there but you should also be prepared to lose and lose with your head held high,” he said. “And I’m doing that tonight.”