Canada’s East Coast has remained largely loyal to the governing Liberals, with preliminary election results late Monday showing the incumbent party holding on to the bulk of the region’s seats.
Despite strong Liberal support, some ridings returned to traditional voting patterns, with the Conservatives appearing to win back five seats in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
“It looks like the Conservatives are simply reclaiming some old territory,” said University of Prince Edward Island political science professor Don Desserud.
“It looks more like a good old-fashioned Maritimes election where the Liberals are losing traditionally Conservative seats.”
Meanwhile, the NDP managed to win back the Newfoundland riding of St. John's East while the Greens earned their first federal riding in Atlantic Canada in Fredericton.
RELATED:
The results make Atlantic Canada’s electoral map – awash in red after a Liberal sweep of all 32 ridings four years ago – more colourful.
“The Liberals had nowhere to go but down. There was no way they could repeat their 2015 miracle,” said Donald Wright, political science professor at the University of New Brunswick.
“But I’m a little surprised by how well they’re doing … the Liberals are holding their own.”
Even some ridings considered to be key battlegrounds returned to the Grits.
Nova Scotia’s Kings-Hants riding, for example, was considered by many to be a toss-up.
The largely rural and traditionally Tory area was up for grabs after former Liberal cabinet minister Scott Brison – originally elected as a Progressive Conservative MP – announced he was stepping down.
His surprise resignation from cabinet earlier this year offered the Conservatives a shot at winning back the seat, but Liberal candidate Kody Blois managed to win back the seat.
Kody Blois has arrived to cheers pic.twitter.com/Rbyr07I0RB
— C Morris-Underhill (@CMUnderhill) October 22, 2019
Central Nova also stayed Liberal, with incumbent Sean Fraser winning more than 46 per cent of the vote. That’s despite country music star George Canyon throwing his hat in for the Tories in what is traditionally a Conservative stronghold.
RELATED: Liberal candidate Sean Fraser defeats Conservative George Canyon to keep Central Nova
“It’s clear that Atlantic Canada still has solid support for the Liberals,” said Dalhousie University sociology professor Howard Ramos.
He added: “Given the tone of the campaign, it will be important for leaders going forward to work on bridging the clear regional differences expressed through the vote.”
Meanwhile, although the NDP managed to secure one seat, the party failed to win back other strongholds.
RELATED: Jack is going back to Ottawa: NDP candidate takes St. John's East
“I'd have expected the NDP might win back a couple other previously held seats, such as in urban areas in Nova Scotia, but it looks like a mostly disappointing result for them,” said Kelly Blidook, a political science professor at Memorial University.
“The Conservatives have taken back a number of seats as well, but they're likely also disappointed with not having taken more.”
He added that while the losses are a setback for the Liberals, “they've actually done a pretty good job of holding on to seats.”
