There were mixed emotions in the campaign headquarters for Cathay Wagantall on Oct. 21. On one hand, her own campaign was a resounding success. The incumbent Yorkton-Melville MP handily took the race, with 76.5 per cent of the vote in the riding, with the Conservative candidate getting 28,972 votes total with 205 of 206 polls reporting at press time - a large increase from her 2015 results of 59.5 per cent of the vote.
On the other hand, her party would be returning to opposition, as the Liberal Party formed a minority government, with 157 seats to the Conservative Party’s 121. The remainder of seats were divided between the Bloc Quebecois with 32, the NDP with 24, the Green Party with 3 (a record for that party) and one independent MP. The People’s Party of Canada won no seats in their first attempt at a federal election.
Wagantall said she is thrilled to be able to go back to Ottawa representing the Yorkton-Melville constituency, and she was also happy to see the large vote of confidence people gave her, with an increase in her share of the vote.
“It means the world to have their vote of confidence, I can hardly wait to get back to the House of Commons.”
For her next term, Wagantall said that she will be happy to serve in whatever capacity Andrew Scheer requests ‘with 100 per cent of her heart and her soul,’ but Wagantall’s history is with the Veteran’s Affairs portfolio, and she wants to continue to fight for soldiers who have suffered from the side-effects of Mefloquine.
This will be Wagantall’s first time working in a minority government. While she would prefer to see a Conservative government, she said her first term gave her a greater appreciation for the role of the opposition party in government, she knows that a minority government will be a new challenge.
“It means different ways that we work within the government. I hope we do find ways that we can influence and represent the views of a huge portion of the population in Canada and in this government.”
The risks of a minority government is inevitable the risk of another election happening at any time, and Wagantall hopes that parliament can work together and avoid that fate, but knows it’s not going to be easy.
“I really would rather not see [another election] as much as any Canadian would rather not see us go back to the polls any time soon. We certainly went through that in the past with the Harper minorities and the Liberal minority before that. But, Canadians vote, they make those decisions, and it creates dynamics in the House of Commons... People think there is more accountability and you have to work together, the truth of the matter is there are as many parties as there are because we do all care about Canada, but we have very different ideas on how best to do that, and that creates a challenge."
Stories on other ridings can be found here;
