Conservative incumbent Chris Warkentin holds on to Grande Prairie seat
Incumbent Conservative Chris Warkentin won his seventh straight federal election Monday, taking over 80 per cent of the vote in the Grande Prairie riding.
Speaking at his election party, Warkentin says he is thankful for the support of residents in the Peace Region and says he will continue to represent their needs in parliament.
“Well, there’s no question that my continued commitment will be making sure that people in the Peace Country have economic opportunities, ones that have been challenging over the last number of years with a Liberal government that has been intent on shutting down the industries that are so important to folks here in the Peace Country. So. we’re going to continue to fight.”
Speaking on his party’s performance across Canada, Warkentin said support for the Conservatives has been rising as other parties lose traction.
“We’re seeing higher support in regions across this country, unprecedented support in ridings that we haven’t seen ever. And so, I think what we’re seeing is a breakthrough in places and a breakthrough of support, and a breakthrough in terms of a ceiling of support that we have never seen. Now, what we’ve seen is a collapse of the NDP (New Democratic Party) and a collapse of the Bloc (Bloc Québécois).”
He added, with the results so far, Canadians may be headed back to the polls sooner than expected.
“Well, if this minority government unfolds in the way that it looks like at this moment, I suspect that there is a chance that we may be back at the polls within a matter of months. The reality is that the NDP has collapsed, the Bloc has been reduced by current numbers.”
“We’ll see where that lands in the next number of hours, but I do expect that based on the reality that we’re seeing right now, it’s unlikely that the Liberals will have a committed dance partner like they had with the NDP with these current numbers.”
In the electoral districts that make up the Peace, all of the Conservative incumbents held their seats, including William Stevenson in Yellowhead, Arnold Viersen in Peace River – Westlock and Bob Zimmer in Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies.