Carla Qualtrough is heading back to Ottawa.
The Liberal incumbent retained her seat in Delta in Monday’s federal election with a comfortable 4,000-vote margin over Conservative Tanya Corbet.
At her campaign headquarters on Scott Road in North Delta, supporters were in a good mood when the polls closed in B.C. at 7 p.m. and spirits picked up even more when news stations predicted a Liberal minority government about 20 minutes later.
“I’m very happy that there is a Liberal government prediction overall. Of course I was hoping for a majority because I think that makes governing more stable, but I’m excited about the prospects of moving forward with our progressive agenda,” Qualtrough said.
For the next hour, Qualtrough worked the room, thanking her supporters and well-wishers while keeping an eye on the local results.
Just before 9 p.m., she told her supporters that several news outlets had declared her the winner, which garnered a huge roar from the crowd and chants of “Carla, Carla, Carla.”
After thanking supporters, Qualtrough was joined at the podium by her husband Eron Main and children Jessica and Matthew.
Main introduced his wife in an emotional address, speaking about Qualtrough’s character and her tireless efforts over the past four years, making special mention of the recent accessibility act that was brought into law.
“She was a representative that people could rely on to listen and to make their voices heard,” said Main. “She may have been at the cabinet table in Ottawa, but she knew that her responsibility was to the people back here at home.”
Qualtrough said she was humbled and honoured to be re-elected.
“I honestly don’t know what to say Delta,” she said. “I want to start to thank all the other candidates who put their names forward. It is not an easy thing to do, but it is part of what makes our democracy strong.”
Qualtrough then thanked her family as well as her campaign team.
“As members of our team, you all made this happen. We have an extraordinary group of volunteers that worked so hard,” she said. “Behind every successful win is a massive army of volunteers and supporters and we had that is spades in Delta.”
Qualtrough said she was proud of the campaign they ran.
“We ran a positive campaign. There was a lot of misinformation out there, but we chose time and time again to take the high road and that paid off because you know what Delta wants, they want someone who believes we can make this world a better place,” she said. “They don’t want someone who tears people down or cuts services, they want a progressive government that invests in people and invests in communities.
“You all know that in the next four years I’m going to make darn sure that we invest in Delta. We had a very positive message to deliver to Canadians and I think we did. They have given us the challenge of a minority government, but we will deliver for Canadians over the next four years because it is part of our DNA as Liberals to step up and leave no one behind and that’s what we are going to do.”
Following her address, Qualtrough commented to the Optimist about the national picture and thoughts of a possible coalition.
“I think we need to work together. Canadians have sent us a strong message that we need to do better,” she said. “I’m looking forward to delivering for Delta, but also figuring out how to work together for a progressive Canada. I don’t know the details of what that will look like yet, but I’m looking forward to being part of the team that figures that out.”
She said the win, however, was bittersweet after several colleagues lost on election night.
“I’m thinking of people that I have spent the last four years with, whether it was travelling or solving issues for the country. I’m very aware we all didn’t get through tonight, but I wish them the best and thank them for serving our country,” she said. “Canadians definitely want a progressive government. They want to move forward and they want us to keep doing better at what we do. There is always room for improvement and we know that, so there are things we have done extremely well in the past four years and there are things we can do better and I look forward to tackling those issues.”
On the local campaign, Qualtrough said it was “interesting,” and quite a bit different than four years ago.
“There was more misinformation than the last time, to be honest, and we spent a lot of time setting the record straight which was unexpected, but we took that on because it was important Deltans had the correct information to make an informed decision,” she said. “I really enjoyed the debates. I’m sorry that all the candidates didn’t show up at all the debates, especially the environmental debate.”
Delta saw a 69.32 per cent voter turnout with 53,288 of 76,871 registered electors casting a ballot – the ninth highest riding in the province, according to Elections Canada.
Saanich — Gulf Islands was first in B.C. with 73.1 per cent. The highest Lower Mainland riding was North Vancouver in fifth place with a 70.1 per cent voter turnout.
Just under 66 per cent of voters cast a ballot across the country, down about two per cent from 2015.
