Conservative Eric Duncan was elected to a third term as Stormont-Dundas-Glengarry (SDG) MP April 28, earning 37,441 votes, or 56.4 per cent of all ballots cast, despite a disappointing night nationally for his party. In 2021, Duncan got 55 per cent of all votes cast.
“The big blue machine is alive and well in SDG,” Duncan said during his victory speech to about 100 supporters in Cornwall. “I sincerely appreciate the trust that the people of SDG have put in me. Tonight, we celebrate a great win here.”
However, on the national level, after having led the polls earlier in the year, Conservatives again failed to oust the Liberals.
Duncan acknowledged the national results were not what the Conservatives had hoped for. “I think our ideas were solid,” he said during a post-election interview. “It wasn’t from lack of effort. Canadians chose to go with the government they knew. We’ll reflect, but I’m proud of the campaign we ran.”
Local leaders praised Duncan’s work. Bryan McGillis, Mayor of South Stormont, said, “I’m not surprised by the results. Eric has done a great job for all the municipalities over the years, and he’s shown a lot of good leadership.”
Cornwall Mayor Justin Towndale also offered congratulations. “The results locally reflect the trust people have in Eric’s leadership,” he said. “I don’t think this Parliament will last four years. We could see another election sooner than expected.”
Campaign manager Adrian Bugelli noted that the campaign energized many new voters. “We had a record number of new voters telling us they had never voted before but were now engaged,” Bugelli said. Looking ahead, he added, “This reminds me of 2004. I think (Conservative leader) Pierre (Poilievre) will keep pushing his message to everyday Canadians — and who knows, we could be doing this again in about 18 months.”
Liberal Bruce Fanjoy defeated Poilievre by 3,793 votes. However, Poilievre plans to stay on as party leader.
