News faces in Hamilton — but same minority government after unwanted pandemic federal election
A close race between the Liberals and NDP went down to the wire on Hamilton Mountain and added intrigue to a $600-million pandemic election that otherwise did little to change the national political landscape.
The unpopular snap election, widely seen as a Liberal effort to reach majority government, appeared on track to yield yet another minority for the party - although a final vote tally is likely days away thanks to one million mail-in ballots that won't be counted until Tuesday.
Hamilton and its three open ridings were a magnet for party leaders who visited nine times during the 36-day campaign.
But in the end, the only riding in the city poised to potentially change hands was Hamilton Mountain, where Liberal Lisa Hepfner held a narrow lead over the NDP's Malcolm Allen early Tuesday morning. That race was close enough that the results could still be affected by up to 3,000 mail-in ballots that have yet to be counted.
Otherwise, city voters elected new faces - if not new parties - in Liberal Chad Collins (Hamilton East-Stoney Creek) and Conservative Dan Muys (Flamborough-Glanbrook).
I didn't think it would come easy," said Collins, a longtime east end councillor who ran for the Liberals despite personal opposition to the party's support for a Hamilton LRT project. He gave credit to NDP competitor Nick Milanovic and Tory Ned Kuruc for putting up a fierce fight in the often-scrappy campaign.
I've been through difficult campaigns before and this is certainly near or at the top of the list."
McMaster University political scientist Peter Graefe was not surprised by status quo" national outcome, noting pre-election polls suggested most voters were unimpressed" with the idea of a snap election during the COVID pandemic.
It's always worth take the pulse of the population, but in this case the population appeared to be saying we don't need this election," he said. In some ways this (vote) was probably a waste of everybody's time and money."
At the same time, Graefe said Hamilton could benefit from another Liberal minority - especially if it is propped up by the NDP, which he argued shares common ground" with the minority government on critical issues like housing and climate change.
The two parties could probably agree on building more affordable rental housing, for example - a critical need in Hamilton, where tent encampments are spurring evictions and legal disputes and housing and rental costs have skyrocketed.
Party promises on climate change and transit are also not so different," he suggested, with general agreement on growing the carbon tax, helping cities adapt to a warming climate and building light rail transit in the city.
Graefe said he expected healthy competition in Hamilton's three open races, but added the NDP might have erred in choosing Allen, who did not have a history in the Mountain riding, over a stronger standard-bearer locally."
Hepfner also lives outside the riding, but is well-known in the city as a familiar face on the news.
An expected race to the finish in Flamborough-Glanbrook was won by veteran Tory staffer Dan Muys, who retained the riding over Liberal standard-bearer and former mayoral candidate Vito Sgro.
Liberal incumbent and cabinet minister Filomena Tassi comfortably retained Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas while NDP incumbent Matthew Green won easily in Hamilton Centre.
The Spectator will update this story throughout Tuesday.
- with files from Teviah Moro
Matthew Van Dongen is a Hamilton-based reporter covering transportation for The Spectator. Reach him via email: mvandongen@thespec.com