Sudbury and Nickel Belt both went Liberal although they were some very close races.

Viviane Lapointe won for Sudbury, with over 15 thousand votes as of this morning, with Nadia Verrelli of the NDP coming second with over 13 thousand votes, while Ian Symington of the Conservatives finished third with 12, 364 votes.

And in Nickel Belt, Marc Serre was re-elected for the Liberals with the NDP Andreane Chenier coming second less than 200 votes ahead of Charles Humphrey of the Conservatives.

Here are the local results as of early this morning:

Sudbury
Vivane Lapointe LIB – 15,217
Nadia Verrelli NDP – 13,128
Ian Symington CON – 12,364
Colette Andrea Methe PPC – 2,684
David Robinson GRN – 943
David Popescu IND – 108

Nickel Belt
Marc Serre(incumbent) LIB – 16,445
Andreane Simone Chenier NDP – 13,205
Charles Humphrey CON – 13,044
David Hobbs PPC – 4,456
Craig Gravelle GRN – 839

Votes are still being counted as of early this morning and there are over 800,000 mail in votes to be counted across the country.

But here are the comparison voting totals this election compared to 2019.

In Sudbury in 2019 there were 47,708 votes cast for 65% of the eligible voting population compared to yesterday when 44,464 people in Sudbury cast their ballots.

In Nickel Belt in 2019 there were 48,524 votes cast and yesterday 47,989 people made it to polling stations despite there being longer lines and less polling stations this year.

Here are small reactions from each candidate thanks to files from Sudbury.com, where you can find all your voting results and information.

 

Lapointe Wins Sudbury

With only three polls left to be counted in the Sudbury riding and leading by more than 2,000 votes in the 2021 federal election, MP-elect Vivian Lapointe said she is ready to get to work.

“Tonight, it is clear, Sudbury has given us a mandate, and it is one we intend to deliver on,” Lapointe told the modest gathering of friends and family. “There are many things we need to do, and every day I will focus on the things that will move us forward, on the things that benefit the people of Sudbury, on the things that will unite us as a community. I am at your service and ready to serve you.

Lapointe said her first priority will be to build relations with city officials, with provincial colleagues and with people in Ottawa, “and that will set the foundation for success in Sudbury.”

“I am truly humbled and deeply conscious of the responsibility now placed on me, and I can assure you that I am ready to serve you,” she said. “I said from the start that I am optimistic about Sudbury and our ability to build back better, for our young families, for our seniors, for our economy. As your member of parliament, I will explore, exploit, expedite and expand every opportunity for Sudbury.”

Full story can be found here

 

Verrelli Strong Showing In First Election

Though it was a quiet night for the most part at Sudbury and Nickel Belt NDP headquarters, it was all but quiet in the Sudbury riding polls.

An election night still in the midst of a pandemic meant that the celebrations were once again muted, with little fanfare as the polls closed, but for the cheers that erupted after a countdown to the clock striking 9:30 p.m.

The moment the polls closed the team took their place in a war room of sorts, but one that was blocked from the media present. Isolated from gathered media by (fittingly) an orange wall, campaign staff watched the polls come in

The race between Verrelli for the NDP and Vivivane Lapointe, the Liberal Candidate for Sudbury, moved up in what seemed like a one at a time, vote over vote race, with one candidate holding the lead for only a moment only to lose it the next.

With the night’s count projected to go on for sometime, Verrelli made a short appearance for the media present in which she thanked her team and supporters, before heading back to a non-public event with her staff — before the final results were in.

“It’s been quite the ride, every day has been an adventure,” said Verrelli to reporters. “I’ve been looking forward to coming into the office, to knocking on doors, talking to people, I’ve loved every minute of it. I’ve had such a great team behind me, and my family supporting me every step of the way, My former students that are part of my team, everyone, it has been great.”

Full story here

Conservatives Gain Ground In Sudbury and Nickel Belt

The Liberals retained their minority government and neither Nickel Belt nor Sudbury found Conservatives elected, but local Conservative candidates still consider Monday’s election a win.

By approximately 1 a.m., both Sudbury’s Ian Symington and Nickel Belt’s Charles Humphrey had recorded gains in their share of votes.

With 196 of 220 polls reporting, Symington had secured 28 per cent of the vote, and with 206 of 209 polls reporting Humphrey had secured 27 per cent.

This compares with the 2019 election’s 20.56 per cent of the vote going to Conservatives in Sudbury and 21.17 per cent going to Conservatives in Nickel Belt.

As results continued to stream in near midnight, Humphrey appeared visibly enthused by what he was seeing as he chatted with family and supporters at J’s Roadhouse Bar & Grill in Val Caron about an after-party.

“To go neck and neck with the other two parties that have traditionally dominated this riding, with a small team as a first-time candidate, with less resources, I think it’s a tremendous win for us even though obviously it’s not the win we would have hoped for,” he said.

“We’re going to be ready next time, we’re going to be a lot of fundraising and a lot of volunteer building, and I think we’re really going to surprise next time around so I’m really excited.”

Alongside supporters gathered at Eddie’s Sports Bar & Restaurant on Regent Street watching the polling numbers come in Monday night, Symington offered similar enthusiasm.

“It was very positive and upbeat and just trying to get our message out, my story out, put a face to the name,” he said. “If we make some gains, that’s where it’ll probably happen from — volunteers and name recognition.”

Full story here

Serre Back In Office

From 11 p.m. onward during election night Monday a sense of calmness settled on Nickel Belt Liberal candidate Marc Serré. The national news agencies had “called” the election win in favour of Liberal leader Justin Trudeau and the mood of victory permeated the cramped Serré campaign room in Val Caron.

The uncertainty didn’t last long. By 11:32 p.m. the large screen television posted a photo of Serré with a brief comment that he was “leading”. Everyone cheered. Serré held up his thumb and index finger, saying “We’re that close.” It was soon after that the network computer declared Serré as the winner.

Monday night’s win for the Liberals is the third time that the voters of Nickel Belt have declared their support for Serré.

The complete numbers won’t be known for a couple of days, owing to the need to count nearly 2,500 mail-in ballots. But that didn’t stop Serré from accepting his victory, just as he did in 2015 and then again in 2019.

Serré commented on the campaign and said he was happy to thank all his team members who stood by him in what was a tough campaign partially because of the pandemic and partially because of what Serré said was a small but vocal negative influence on social media.

He said the Nickel Belt riding is mainly rural and that allowed him to meet more voters on a more intimate scale such as door-knocking and in small community settings. He said that made it easier to offset the negativity on social media.

“There’s been harassment, there’s been violence. I had my signs burned,” Serré said. He added that campaign workers were confronted and intimidated. But Serré said he and the campaign team had no worries about taking a zero tolerance policy and banning people for harassment on social media. He said it became obvious that it was a small percentage.

“There have been some rough moments, but mostly it has been a positive campaign. That was our plan all along,” Serré said just minutes before the polls were closed.

Full story here