Anthony Rota is heading back to Ottawa as MP for Nipissing-Timiskaming.

The Liberal incumbent was re-elected to a fifth term in Monday’s Federal Election.

As of 1 am, with 202 of 205 polls reporting, Rota garnered 40 percent of the vote in the riding.

“People saw what happened in 2011 and they saw what happens when they start throwing their votes around. It was nice to see that they actually put their votes where they wanted, not as a protest, but voting for someone and I’m honoured that they chose me,” he says.

Nationally, the Liberals fell short of the 170 seats needed for a majority.

Rota says their party is known for working with others.

“We have a reputation as a party, and me personally, of working with other parties and other people. This is certainly going to be an interesting time and we’re going to do wonderful things for the country,” he says.

Rota says constituents know what to expect from him and his local office.

“They like the fact that I’m open, I’m there for them and whenever they’ve needed something my office is there for them. That is a reputation I have built up over the years and I continue to take great pride in,” he says.

Conservative Jordy Carr was second at 27 percent of the votes.

She says she’ll be back again.

“I’m true blue all the way through, I have been my whole life and I believe in the Conservative mandate, in our platforms and I think next time around we may have a better chance,” Carr says.

Nationally, she says the party gained some ground.

“Ideally it would’ve been nice to get more seats, but we did gain some seats and it’s a slow move forward. We did gain some seats, we have to be happy with that, all we can do is work hard to do it next time,” Carr says.

The NDP’s Rob Boulet garnered about 21 percent of the vote, the Green Party’s Alex Gomm received 6.5 percent and People’s Party candidate Mark King received just over five percent.

Boulet tells BayToday he had a really good experience meeting people and providing them with some hope.

“It’s been amazing, I’ve had an amazing team of people supporting, so much community support, it’s been overwhelming,” he says.

He also says the campaign came with some surprises, including an endorsement from Nipissing First Nation Chief Scott McLeod.

“We went out there a couple times and listened to the issues that they were facing and we talked about it, and we talked about what we can do, and to get an endorsement was pretty amazing,” he told BayToday.

Green Party candidate Alex Gomm says there were some positives in the results.

“I’m glad that we’ve doubled our votes from the last election and that’s fantastic. Nationally, we’re doing really well, Greens are going to have a strong presence in the House,” he says.

Gomm says not being a familiar name played a role in the results, but he also says Rota is well known for his work in the district.

“He’s been a very valuable Member of Parliament and he works hard for the riding and that’s reflected in the percentage of the vote that he got,” Gomm says.

Mark King with the People’s Party of Canada says the support they received, including $35,000 they raised, didn’t translate into votes.

“We were well-funded, there was a lot of support out there, but obviously the people in the riding weren’t interested in that,” he says.

King also expects to see talk of western separation come up.

“I suspect the country will be in a crisis situation where Western Canada leaves, attempts to leave, you can watch that happen, you can absolutely count on that,” he says.

Filed under: 2019-federal-election