Conservative Member of Parliament John Weston rode to re-election on Monday (May 2) on a wave that swept Stephen Harper's Tories to a majority government after five years of minority status.
The Conservative majority, the New Democratic Party surge, the first Green Party seat and the demise of the Liberals all contributed to a government configuration Canada has never seen before.
Surrounded by supporters young and old at his campaign office in West Vancouver, Weston's smile grew bigger as the night went on.
When victory was finally officially announced around 10 p.m. and Weston emerged for his victory speech wearing a Vancouver Canucks jersey, those in the crowd chanted, "Weston, Weston, Weston"
Weston, who first won the right to represent West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country in Ottawa in 2008, captured almost the same number of votes as his next two rivals combined. Weston had 28,711 votes, compared to 26,826 in 2008.
"We never thought we would manage to top the last election's number," said Weston. "It's an incredible feeling and I am honoured to be re-elected."
Standing with his arms draped around his wife Donna and three kids, Weston told the crowd that the Tories' campaign was based on the simple premise of "continuing an economic recovery in a time when people cared about their jobs."
Weston also echoed a refrain that no doubt reverberated across the country as the Stephen Harper-led Conservative Party swept into majority-government status for the first time.
"We really are the finest in so many ways and this isn't something we say with arrogance," Weston said. "We have a national leader that's shown that he's disciplined, he's intelligent and he's a world leader."
Weston also reaffirmed the promise he made to voters during the election.
"This Conservative majority brings stability and real responsibility to the government for all Canadians," he said.
"For the first time in a long time, we have a clear path of over four years, so that allows us to articulate a clear vision, to create jobs across the country."
He said Canada is ready to lead in the G7 in all areas - the economy, the environment, technology, innovation, peacekeeping and arts and culture.
"We can achieve things that we probably didn't even dream of as Canadians with this focus that we haven't had before," he said.
New Democrat Terry Platt won a close battle for second place in the riding with Liberal Dan Veniez. Platt had 14,812 votes (23.47 per cent) compared to Veniez's 14,103 (22.34 per cent). Green Party hopeful Brennan Wauters was in fourth place with 4,597 votes (7.29 per cent).
Weston, who after the Squamish candidates' forum said he thought it would be a two-horse race between the Liberals and Conservatives, was taken aback by the "orange crush" that swept the country and usurped second place in his riding.
"It's a surprise to everyone in the country I'm sure, even to Jack Layton," he said.
"I believe it will be good to have a House of Commons with two very distinct views reflected on either side of the house. I suspect that as iron sharpens iron, the two parties will hopefully be able to learn from one another."
Rounding out the results were Roger Lagassé of the Progressive Canadian Party with 342 votes, Libertarian Tunya Audain with 244, Allan Holt of the Western Block with 157, Carol Lee Chapman of the Marxist-Leninist with 87 and Doug Hartt of the Canadian Action Party with 64.
Weston, like Harper, promised that despite a majority the Tories would respect the opposition's views and not impose radical changes.
"This is a time we can be more thoughtful and listen to all perspectives of the opposition and the people in the community and pursue a statesmanlike approach to governance," said Weston.
Voted Canada's prime minister for the third consecutive term, Harper now joins the ranks of Sir John A. MacDonald and John Diefenbaker as the only Conservatives ever to win three consecutive terms in office.
Weston said he was extremely proud of a leader he wholeheartedly supports.
"He has principles, discipline and is up to the challenge of leading the country through the next four years and beyond," he said.
Only one block from Weston's campaign headquarters, the mood at another would-be post-election party was sobering at best. A dozen Liberal supporters watched sombrely as the poll results unraveled and waited for Liberal candidate Dan Veniez to arrive.
As the Liberal demise swept across the country, supporters became agitated and made several comments such as "Booo!" "Jesus Christ!" and "I don't even know if I'll stay."
The room was silent while Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff accepted blame for the party's failure and said he would resign if asked. The disappointment in the room was palpable as the obvious was stated: "Liberals have lost their status."
West Vancouver resident and Liberal supporter Bob Fairweather was surprised and discouraged at the results.
"I'm devastated that the Liberals are showing so poorly - we obviously didn't sell the Liberals well enough," he said.
When Veniez arrived at 8:30 p.m., his supporters cheered him on nonetheless and chanted "Veniez, Veniez, Veniez," as he walked up the stairs.
Veniez, who was acclaimed as the Liberal party candidate almost a year ago, took the loss hard and said he felt national trends dictated the local results.
"The national results were shocking and I think it played a huge role locally - I think voters decided to vote to the devil they know," he said. "Had the numbers held from a few weeks ago, you would have seen the blue wave move over to us and more Liberals come out in force, but the orange crush was just too much to overcome."
Veniez said he will not run again and said the Liberal Party needs to be reworked if it ever hopes to regain its former popularity.
"Unless the Liberal Party re-shapes itself into a more modern, relevant party again, it will be relegated to the dustbins of history and so it should be," he said. "We need new blood and bold ideas, ideas that we can shape with the help of all Canadians.
"I think there is a certain sense of entitlement within the party and that has to stop. A glorious past does not guarantee you a great future."
Liberal supporter Maggie Pappes said it came down to a public desire for something different - and not the Conservatives.
"He's [NDP Leader Jack Layton] actually addressing these people issues that we all have, he's recognizing the economy is a little bit softer than we think Liberals are saying much the same thing but people have heard the Liberals and the Conservatives for years and they're going, 'Wait a minute, there's somebody else here,'" said Pappes.
"They never paid attention to the NDP, so they said, 'Let's have a look.' They had a look and they went, 'Positive guy, good message, he talks very well, communicates very well, let's have a go at this.'"
Despite being a Liberal, Pappes said the new House of Commons could address different issues.
"It will be a really interesting Parliament, it will be a different configuration and to a certain extent issues that have been sort of dormant for a while are going to get the attention they really deserve - health care being one of them, environment being another," she said. "It can't be silenced now. It will come up."
Platt said she was disappointed she didn't win, but encouraged by her unexpected second-place finish.
"It's been quite the ride and yes, it would have been nice if I had won; however, I'm really, really thrilled," she said. "We have 103 seats for heavens sake - I think that's wonderful and I believe the official opposition is in very good hands with Jack.
"He is marvelous, he is very dedicated, he is just a marvelous man, that's all I can say and he is going to make a wonderful leader of the opposition.
"As for the Conservatives, well God help us all," she said.
Platt said she is unsure whether she'll run again and also extended her congratulations to Elizabeth May for winning the Green Party's first seat in the House.
"I'm so glad for Elizabeth May. I wish the Greens all the best," she said. "Our Green candidate Brennan Wauters was very kind, and a great man. He was a lot of fun to run with."
Wauters said he was pleased with the results as he had double the national percentage of Green votes.
"It's clear to me in the riding that despite the overall results, the riding is very, very Green," he said.
"It was an amazing experience for me and a fantastic learning experience."
He was elated by May's election.
"The word that I'm using is a paradigm shift. This was the hurdle that we needed to overcome. To have the first Green elected representative in federal politics is a wonderful achievement."
Wauters said he continue spreading the Green message in the riding to ensure the public has a better understanding of the Green Party's platform.
- With files from Allie Nichol and Ian Jacques, Coast Reporter.
