After winning eight consecutive elections rather soundly, Gerry Byrne was not about to sit on his laurels for his latest bid.
In fact, the incumbent cabinet minister said the successful campaign he launched that culminated in his re-election Thursday night was one of the more exciting ones he’s been a part of.
“I don’t think I ever, ever worked as hard as I did at this one,” said Byrne, who was first elected as western Newfoundland’s MP in 1996. “I wanted to do that for the people of Corner Brook and for my leader, Dwight Ball.”
Byrne said he wanted to convince his constituents that the Liberal party under Ball’s leadership has been doing good work, despite the province’s significant financial challenges.
He also wanted to make sure there was no doubt that the long-awaited regional hospital in Corner Brook would be proceeding with the start of construction on its acute care component this year.
He said he didn’t want to take the electorate for granted and praised his campaign team for mobilizing the vote in his support once again.
“What’s absolutely critical is the message you deliver,” said Byrne. “It’s the things you prioritize as a party that really focus in on what the needs of your constituent are.
“The Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador had a message that the people of Corner Brook were very anxious to hear and very anxious to trust and to support.”
That message, said Byrne was for government to deal with the provincial deficit responsibly and without forgetting its core duties when it comes to health care, education and social services.
“It really gives me a mandate and gives our government a mandate to fulfill everything we said we would,” said Byrne.
