While his party may not have won the federal election, Cariboo-Prince George MP Todd Doherty will be heading back to Ottawa for another term.
Preliminary results for Monday night's federal election as of Tuesday, April 29 have Doherty with 35,817 votes, equalling 60.3 per cent from 97.37 per cent of the polls.
"I'm relieved," Doherty told Efteen Monday evening from Prince George where he was gathered with his family and campaign team at the Marriott Hotel. "It's obviously not the national result that we wanted, but we've got more Conservatives elected than we had previously."
Eyeing the next steps, he said he'll wait to see the final numbers, but expects the Conservatives will gather as a national caucus in a couple of days to chart a course for action and go from there.
With the expansion of the riding this year, to include the 100 Mile House area, Doherty said he continued to meet "incredible" people throughout the campaign.
"I just love this region and I've got connections throughout, having grown up here. It was like meeting old family. The campaign for me was long, but only because of the extra mileage that we had to do."
Doherty thanked everyone, adding he's humbled and honoured.
"This is the greatest job and the greatest honour I've ever had. I can't wait to get back to work and to fighting for our constituents. A heartfelt thank you from my family to everyone."
He said being elected for a fourth term is overwhelming.
"I never would have ever guessed I'd be a member of parliament. It's something that I never thought was even possible for a kid from the Cariboo."
Doherty also thanked his wife, adding it is a team sport for him to succeed as an MP.
"We are looking forward to this next term and both feel like we are ready to go. I could not do this without her and having her alongside me gives me strength."
Next in number of votes was the Liberal's Clinton Emslie who got 17,834 or 30 per cent.
Following him, Angie Bonazzo, New Democratic Party, received 3,839 votes or 6.5 per cent, while Green Party candidate Jodie Capling garnered 1,107 or 1.9 per cent.
People's Party of Canada candidate Rudy Sans received 412 votes or 0.7 per cent, Independent candidate Kenneth B. Thomson received 200 and Christian Heritage Party's Jake Wiens got 171 or 0.3 per cent.
Voter turnout was 63.96 per cent. Elections Canada's results show 59,380 of 92,834 registered voters cast their ballots. The registered voter number does not include anyone who registered on voting day.
Nationally, Mark Carney's Liberals emerged as the winners with preliminary results indicating they are leading in 168 ridings with 43.5 per cent of the vote. During a speech on Monday night, he told supporters he has made mistakes but has learned from them and pledged to represent all of Canada.
“My message to every Canadian is this, no matter where you live, no matter what language you speak, no matter how you voted, I will always do my best to represent everyone.”
Carney said that while he started with humility, now more than ever is a time for ambition.
“It is a time to be bold, to meet this crisis with overwhelming positive force of united in Canada, because we, we are going to build, build, baby, build.”
The Conservatives, meanwhile, are leading in 144 ridings with 41.4 per cent of the votes, the Bloc Quebecois are leading in 23 ridings with 6.4 per cent of the votes, and the NDP are leading in seven ridings with 6.3 per cent of the votes.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh announced Monday evening that he would be stepping down after losing his riding. Meanwhile, Conservative leader Pierre Pollivere also lost his long-held Ontario seat but indicated a desire to continue to fight for the millions of people who voted for the Conservative Party. He echoed Doherty's words about there being much to celebrate, noting the Conservatives were on track to gain 20 more seats than they did during the 2021 federal election.
“We got the highest share of votes our party has received since 1988. We denied the NDP and liberals enough seats to form a coalition government," Pollivere said. “We are cognizant of the fact that we didn’t quite get over the finish line.”
He congratulated Carney on leading a minority government. That comment was met with “boos” from the audience.
“We’ll have plenty of opportunity to debate and disagree, but tonight we come together as Canadians. We will do our job. Yes, we will do our job to hold the government to account, but first, we congratulate people from all political backgrounds of participating in the democratic process.”
With files from Lauren Collins.
