With 274 of 275 polls reporting, Gord Johns of the NDP has won the Courtenay-Alberni seat for a fourth term.
The race between Johns and first-time candidate Kris McNichol of the Conservative Party was tight for much of the night, with a few hundred votes separating them at times.
"I'm humbled," Johns said as he and his supporters celebrated in a conference room at the Tigh-Na-Mara Seaside Spa Resort in Parksville. "For the people to put their trust in me is an incredibly humbling experience."
Johns won the only NDP seat on Vancouver Island, which in the 2021 election was mostly NDP orange. The federal New Democrats had so few seats—about eight nationwide—that they have lost party status. Leader Jagmeet Singh lost his seat in Burnaby Central and immediately stepped down as party leader.
Johns said he will take time Tuesday "to look at what happened in our riding before I even take a chance to look at what's happened nationally."
"Of course it's very emotional right now," he said. "It's bittersweet that Jagmeet has made his announcement to resign."
The gap between Johns and McNichol widened late in the evening. After 235 polls reporting, Johns had 22,680 votes compared to McNichol's 19,653.
With 274 of 275 polls reported, Johns had 31,220 votes compared to McNichol's 27,103. Liberal Party candidate Brian Cameron was in third with 17,727 votes. Chris Markevich of the Green Party had 1,722, Thomas Gamble of the People's Party of Canada had 416, Teresa Knight of the Animal Protection Party had 186 and Jesse Musial of the Christian Heritage Party had 68.
There are 107,691 eligible voters in the riding.
This was McNichol's first time running for office.
"It's the will of the people and if Courtenay-Alberni feels that this is what they want, they voted for it and they'll get the same thing they have had for the last 10 years," he said.
McNichol held a gathering for his family and supporters at Parksville's Boston Pizza.
"I'm going to work tomorrow, like I was going to do regardless," he said. "The difference is I won't be going to Ottawa to represent Courtenay-Alberni. I will go back to work. I'm a worker; that's all I know and that's all I'll ever do."
McNichol said he particularly feels bad for the young people in the riding who can't afford a home. He expects since the Liberal Party only has a minority government there will be another election within two years. However, he's not sure if he will run again.
The Greens' Markevich said he feels "pretty good overall" with how the results have been.
"We certainly had our challenges being a small campaign with limited funds, but I'm proud of our platform and I feel that the issues we talked about really resonated with voters," he said.
He said he is going to think about his electoral future once the final results are in, "but don't be surprised if you see my name pop up again somewhere soon."
The Green Party only grabbed one seat on Monday, former Party leader Elizabeth May in Saanich-Gulf Islands.
The 2025 federal election is the first foray into politics for Teresa Knight from the Animal Protection Party. She said the 174 votes she received so far in Courtenay-Alberni is "more votes than I expected and I'm glad to see it."
"I'm really happy; anybody who voted for me is really giving animals a voice," she said. She congratulated Johns on his win, saying he is a good representative for the riding.
Political pundits declared a Liberal Party win in the federal election with polls from the west still reporting. The Liberals will likely not have a majority, however.
Liberal candidate Brian Cameron was happy to see support for the party grow in the riding.
"it's unfortunate I didn't didn't get the seat, but I am happy with the the support that we've grown here from for the Liberal Party," he said. "I am looking forward to continue that continuing that growth ... I believe in the last election there were just over 9,000 votes (9,222), and though there's still one poll to be counted, we're sitting just below 18,000. We've nearly doubled our support here in this riding, and I look forward to continuing that growth."
The NDP's Singh finished a distant third in his Burnaby Central riding.
Singh was elected leader of the NDP nearly eight years ago. He talked about the sacrifice holding public office means and he thanked his family for standing behind him for all those years.
He congratulated Prime Minister-elect Mark Carney on his party's win.
Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre was not guaranteed a seat in his hotly-contested Carleton riding. Speaking to his supporters while he was sitting second in the polls, Poilievre congratulated the Conservative Party for gaining their highest vote count since 1988 and winning about 25 more seats than the previous election.
"The Conservatives have achieved major breakthroughs tonight," he said. "We gave voices to countless people across this country who have been left out and left behind for far too long."
Follow live results with Black Press Media here.
— With reporting from Kevin Forsyth, Marc Kitteringham, Raynee Novak and Susie Quinn
