Liberal Pam Damoff re-elected in Oakville North-Burlington
Liberal incumbent Pam Damoff has been declared the winner in Oakville North-Burlington.
The race was called in her favour just before midnight Tuesday. By 12:30 a.m., she had 47 per cent of the vote with 104 of 203 polls reporting. Conservative candidate Hanan Rizkalla trailed with 36 per cent.
I'm exhausted, but I'm really pleased," Damoff said.
Mail-in votes were not included in Monday's count. Oakville North-Burlington had among the highest number of requests for mail-in ballots in the area at 4,971.
Damoff watched the results come in with family before heading to an end-of-campaign celebration at the Tin Cup in Burlington.
Damoff has been the riding's MP since it was established in 2015. That year, she won a close race with the Conservative candidate, earning 46.7 per cent of the vote.
In the 2019 election, all of Halton came under the red Liberal banner. Damoff received 48 per cent of the vote, beating the Conservative candidate by 7,000 votes. In her second term, she served as parliamentary secretary to the minister of Indigenous services.
In this election, she highlighted gun control, green infrastructure, better biking and walking trails, child care, accessible public transit and supporting seniors and families as her priorities.
Damoff also pledged support for Canada's tourism industry and to extend the Canada Recovery Hiring Program to Mar. 31, 2022 to allow businesses to hire more workers.
Bruno Sousa, the Green candidate for the riding, said in an interview his goal was to get 3,000 votes this election.
We campaigned our hearts out," Sousa said ahead of the results, noting he was on vacation when the election was called. Around 1 a.m. Tuesday, he'd received 363 votes (1.8 per cent).
Earlier in the evening, PPC candidate Gilbert Jubinville said his party saw support grow after Ontario announced its proof of vaccination policy. He had 4.2 per cent of the vote.
- With files from Kathy Yanchus and The Oakville BeaverMaria Iqbal is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator covering aging. Reach her via email: miqbal@thespec.com.