GREATER SUDBURY—The mood in the Liberal campaign headquarters began with a sense of “cautious optimism” as supporters began to gather in the room. A sentiment reflected by candidate Marc Serré as he warmly greeted each new face that entered the room.
Cheers greeted the announcement that the polls had closed and folks gathered around the big screen to watch the early results coming in from the eastern portion of the country—with the Liberals taking a decisive lead in those results the mood remained upbeat.
But as the results for Sudbury East-Manitoulin-Nickel Belt began to come in the mood became more pensive and quiet. Cheers would erupt whenever a predicted Liberal win was announced, but the sobering results appearing onscreen for the local riding began to elicit a sense of unease in the room—a sense that continued to build with each refreshing of the results.
Mr. Serré remained upbeat and even as the score slowly built against him, with his main opponent Jim Belanger’s lead steadily growing throughout the evening, the tension growing with each passing moment. It was a slow and painful experience for his supporters in the room.
Finally, the riding was called for the Conservative candidate by CTV and shortly afterward Mr. Serré made his way into the centre of the room-eliciting a soft groan from many of those in the room who were still holding out hope for an advance poll miracle that was not to be.
The Liberal candidate thanked everyone who came out to support him that evening and especially his supporters and staff for all of the hard work and sacrifice they had made on his behalf.
“This is my fourth election,” he said. “My staff have worked hard for the riding. So hard. And also, there’s been so many, so many volunteers—more volunteers than I’ve ever had for any other election.”
He noted that the loss of the Liberal voters in Nickel Centre, some 4,200 by his count, that went to the Sudbury riding “was a big hit.”
“But you try to make inroads, in Espanola and in Manitoulin, and I guess we did make some inroads, but not enough.”
With a minority government in the offing, Mr. Serré predicted that there would likely be another election “within six months to a year.”
For his own future, Mr. Serré said, “I’ll be reflecting upon everything with my family and everything else to see what my next steps are. I’m 58, so I am still young, so, you know, we’ll see.”
Mr. Serré then thanked all of the candidates who put their names forward for public service.
One of the positive things he took away from this campaign is that although people in rural areas feel disconnected from government, they still believe it is worth having a representative in Ottawa.”
Despite the media preoccupation with Trump and tariffs, the issues he met at the door were challenges with the cost of living. “I know the cost of living is an issue, housing is an issue, grocery pricing is an issue, the whole affordability aspect was an issue in Northern Ontario,” he said.
Mr. Serré said that he felt he had run a good campaign, travelling the length and breadth of the riding, “from Killarney to Meldrum Bay, I crisscrossed every inch. I met local organizations and I did the best I could. I have nothing to do but hold my head up high. I believe I did a good job as an MP but it is something that happens that you get voted out.”
As for the NDP vote that appears to have gone to the Conservatives, Mr. Serré said that is something “we’ll have to reflect on as a party, we’ll have to reflect on as a rural MPs. Let’s see how that had an effect, but yes, it’s a bit surprising that I think the big chunk of the NDP people went to the Conservatives, but that happens.”
Andréane Chénier, the NDP candidate, was holding court in a more sparsely populated campaign headquarters, reflecting her party’s precipitous drop in the standings. The mood there was sombre from the start and Ms. Chénier expressed no illusions as to how the evening would unfold in regards to her own fate as a candidate—but she remained decidedly unbowed.
“Obviously not the way I wanted them to go, but I mean, in the end, it is what it is,” she said. As to whether there was anything she felt she could have done differently in the campaign, she was adamant. ”To be honest, our team has been working all the time. We ran a stellar campaign,” she said. “Our team was fantastic. I have no complaints. There was no place where I would say that ‘we should have done this’ or ‘we should have done that.’”
This was Ms. Chénier’s second run at federal office, but she is adamant it won’t be her last.
“The reasons why I ran haven’t changed,” she said. “For me, it’s never been about being an MP—it’s always been about doing the work. I’ve been a rep for a very long time. For the last 14 years, and I’m a health and safety specialist, and I see what happens firsthand when we chronically underfund public health—both sides lose. The people who need the services, are not getting what they need, so they’re suffering and the workers are also suffering because there’s not enough workers to make the works safe.”
Ms. Chénier said that is why she is a New Democrat. “We don’t have special interests to pull us,” she said.
While Ms. Chénier said that Trump was a factor, the overriding sentiment she felt from the people she met in this campaign was “anxiety.”
Noting that her predecessor Carol Hughes ran three times before she finally secured a win, Ms. Chénier said she intends to keep up the fight. “It’s not a failure until you quit,” she said. I’m not a quitter. We adapt and move on.”
