Conservatives pick up seats in northeastern Ontario

Canada’s Conservatives picked up two seats in northeastern Ontario Monday night, with the Liberals holding on to two other ridings by razor-thin margins.

The NDP lost both its seats in northern Ontario.

Upset in Nickel Belt

In perhaps the biggest surprise of the night, Jim Belanger defeated longtime Liberal MP Marc Serre to win the riding of Sudbury East-Manitoulin-Nickel Belt.

CTV News declared Belanger the winner at 11:14 p.m., and as of midnight, he had just more than 50 per cent of the votes compared to 39 per cent for Serre, with almost 85 per cent of the vote counted.

Belanger celebrated at Overtime in Chelmsford with his family.

Conservatives take NDP seat in Timmins area

In Kapuskasing-Timmins-Mushkegowuk riding, Gaétan Malette won the seat for the Tories, in a riding without an incumbent after the retirement of NDP MP Charlie Angus.

Like Sudbury East-Manitoulin-Nickel Belt, Kapuskasing-Timmins-Mushkegowuk is a new riding that took in parts of Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing, which was eliminated.

Malette also earned just more than 50 per cent of the votes, defeating Liberal candidate Steve Black, who had just more than 37 per cent of the vote, with 88 per cent of polls reporting.

“Well, the main issue that ... I heard everywhere is the cost of living. And that’s what, was the same issue in every different area of the riding,” Mallete said after his victory.

“If I was in Chapleau, it was more about forestry and currently it was more about mining. Along Highway 11, it was more about the safety of the highway. And Timmins, it was very much about crime. But overall, the cost of living for everyone. And I hope, I hope that’s what we can attack and take care of.”

Parry Sound-Muskoka stays blue

Parry Sound-Muskoka remained in Tory hands, with incumbent Scott Aitchison cruising to victory with 53.6 per cent of the vote, defeating Liberal hopeful Geordie Sabbagh, who picked up 41 per cent. That’s with 96.9 per cent of the ballots counted.

Sudbury remains red

Incumbent Liberal MP Viviane Lapointe held on in Sudbury, winning 49.8 per cent of the vote, with Conservative candidate Ian Symington garnering 40.4 per cent with 74 per cent of the polls reporting.

“Well I’m very proud that the people of Sudbury have given me another term to represent them in Ottawa -- I take that responsibility very seriously and I’m ready to serve,” Lapointe said.

Serre was an ‘amazing MP’

“I spent time talking to a lot of voters, there’s certainly a lot of concern. We will need to work very hard to ensure that we’re addressing those concerns and the fears of Canadians, that will be the responsibility of our government moving forward.”

She also took a moment to acknowledge Serre’s loss, calling him “an amazing MP.”

“I know he’ll be disappointed in those results, as well, and I’m also concerned from a northern Ontario caucus perspective. He contributed greatly to the caucus so I’m disappointed, but we will continue to work together.”

“I don’t know Jim Belanger but I will be reaching out to him to continue to see that Sudbury and Nickel Belt are represented in Ottawa,” she added.

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Liberals hold onto Nipissing-Timiskaming

And in a see-saw battle, in Nipissing-Timiskaming, Liberal Pauline Rochefort took a late lead over Tory hopeful Garry Keller.

With 99.6 per cent of polls reporting at 1:40 a.m. Tuesday, Rochefort had a 1,153-vote lead over Keller, with 46.9 per cent of the vote, compared to Keller’s 44.9 per cent.

Keller conceded defeat just before 2 a.m., giving the Liberals the win in a riding formerly held by longtime Liberal MP Anthony Rota.

“It’s never fun to lose an election campaign, especially when it’s this close,” Keller told CTV News North Bay reporter Eric Taschner in an interview after he conceded.

“I scored probably one of the highest results ever for a Conservative candidate here. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t enough to get us over the edge.”

He went on to say that he thinks this will be one of the shortest Parliaments in Canadian history.

Speaking to reporters after her victory was announced, Liberal Pauline Rochefort said she is “very delighted” with the result.

She said during the first few weeks of the campaign, the No. 1 issue she said was on the top of everyone’s mind was Donald Trump’s comments about Canada becoming the 51st state.

“Then it proceeded and it turned to leadership in our country, who would be able to unite the provinces, who would be able to lead us forward and so then it turned more to the matter of which leader would be best.”

She said the first things on her agenda when she gets to Ottawa is to address homelessness and affordable housing.

“Actually, at a national level, it is one of the Top 3 or five issues. So, I will be well surrounded by others that view that as a major issue. It’s fortunate that in the City of North Bay, they were the recipient of funding under the Housing Accelerator Fund,” Rochefort said.

“The City of North Bay received $10 million. So, they’ve already started to tackle that particular issue with non-for-profit housing, higher density housing in the downtown core.”

She said her predecessor, Liberal MP Anthony Rota, is still highly respected throughout the riding.

Rota retired and did not seek re-election after serving six terms.

“I believe he will be celebrated for his accomplishments in the weeks to come. So, yes, he is very much, at the heart of our campaign,” Rochefort said.

“I will continue to view him as my first key advisor.”

Liberals re-elected in the Sault

Incumbent Liberal Terry Sheehan was also declared winner in Sault Ste. Marie-Algoma just before 2 a.m.

Sheehan edged out Conservative Hugh Stevenson by 1,474 votes. He received 47.3 per cent of ballots cast compared to 44.9 per cent for Stevenson.

He was declared elected by CTV News at 1:48 a.m.

Files from Eric Taschner, Lydia Chubak and Ian Campbell