Slam dunk for Duncan

Image of Nick Seebruch
By Nick Seebruch
Slam dunk for Duncan
Eric Duncan. File photo.

CORNWALL, Ontario – Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) candidate was confirmed as the new MP for Stormont, Dundas and South Glengarry.

By 11 p.m. Duncan had secured over 16,000 votes, more than double of his nearest rival.

The Conservative party’s fortunes were different nationwide however. By 10:20 p.m. on election night, the incumbent Liberal Party of Canada under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was well on his way to a minority government.

Incumbent Conservative MP Guy Lauzon introduced his protege and former campaign manager to a welcoming audience at the campaign party at the Ramada Inn.

“This is my seventh visit to this room on election night,” Lauzon said. “The first was to celebrate a defeat. The other five were as a victor. Many of you have been with me through the ups and downs and now you have put your support behind Eric Duncan and I thank you for that.”

Eric was paraded in by bagpipes along side his family.

“What started out with a click of a mouse grew into a movement here in SD&G,” he said. “I’m very proud of our campaign and how our team treated the other teams and candidates.”

“I am proud to look Guy in the eyes tonight and say we did it,” Duncan continued.

Duncan said that he was proud of his volunteers and was represented across the province.

“I could not have done this without the support of my mom, my dad Ed and my sister Jill,” said Duncan. “With the title of MP coming to the end of my name, I want you to know that the title that I am most proud of is that of your son and brother.”

Duncan said his first priority was to setup a campaign office. He said he would be keeping the office in Cornwall, with the same staff, and the same commitment to public service that his predecessor had.

Kelsey Catherine Schmitz, the NDP candidate for the riding brought in over 3,000 votes and came in third place.

She said she was proud of the efforts of her volunteers and planned on running again in politics in the future.

“We will be celebrating tonight no matter what, this has been an amazing journey,” she said.

Her Liberal counterpart, Heather Megill came in second place with over 7,000 votes.

She agreed with Duncan that she also was proud of how clean the campaign was.

“The most positive thing has been the other candidates in this campaign,” she said. “There were no low blows, we respected each other and learned from each other.”

Share this article