HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News Record, 2015-10-28, Page 22 News Record • Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Huron -Bruce Conservative MP Ben Lobb re-elected for a third term
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Huron -Bruce Conserva-
tive MP Ben Lobb is back in
the House of Commons for
a third consecutive term in
what was expected to be a
tough battle.
The 39 -year-old Goder-
ich native outdistanced
Liberal Allan Thompson
24,971 to 22,196 with 238 of
246 polls reporting early
Tuesday morning.
That worked out to a 44.8
per cent share of the votes
to Thompson's 39.8.
"Obviously, (it's) bitter-
sweet because it's sad to
see prime minister leave
government," Lobb said on
Monday. "I'm very thankful
I was re-elected."
NDP candidate Gerard
Creces was third with 7,231
votes while the Green Par-
ty's Jutta Splettstoesser was
fourth with 1,357.
Lobb spent election night
in the Candle Light Restau-
rant, a spot where he's been
through a number of ups
and downs.
He first ran for federal
office in 2006, losing to Lib-
eral Paul Steckle in a tight
race. He rebounded to take
the riding two years later and
again in 2011 where he
claimed 54 per cent of the
votes.
"You always want to leave
something better than you
found it ... we have a really
strong economy in Huron -
Bruce" Lobb said.
"About two years ago my
spider sense told me we
were in a big fight. I believe
in the Conservative Party
(plan to) lower taxes,
expand trade, (be) tough
on crime, and (stand) up
for Canada?'
Thompson's supporters
gathered at Kincardine's
Ainsdale Golf Course, cau-
tiously waiting what was
thought would be a close
result. So close that he had
just one speech ready for
Monday night regardless of
the outcome.
"I feel very strongly, that
the people of Huron -Bruce
have spoken, and so has
Canada;' Thompson said to
applause. "A Liberal major-
ity government. I think
that's something we should
all be celebrating. It's a
watershed in Canada's
political culture. Justin
Trudeau has demonstrated
that the nice guy can finish
first.
The Glammis native is a
veteran political journalist
who worked as a reporter at
the Toronto Star and fol-
lowed Prime Minister Jean
Chretien on the campaign
trail.
He was a journalism pro-
fessor at Carleton Univer-
sity before he took a leave
of absence to run for office.
"That is a huge change on
the Canadian political
scene," Thompson
said."They said this riding
was unwinnable. I'm not
convinced they're right.
Ben Lobb won tonight. Ben
deserved a victory accord-
ing to the polls, and the
Council in favour of victory rides
Laura Broadley
Clinton News Record
The long held tradition ofvic-
tory rides through town in sup-
port of winning sports teams
will continue for now.
A report from the Central
Huron fire department pre-
sented to the committee of the
whole on Oct. 13 recom-
mended that the rides cease for
safety reasons.
In the report it states that fire
trucks in the departments
aren't able to safely transport
large groups of people on the
exterior. The trucks can still be
used to lead parades during
special events at the discretion
of the fire chief
But council had other plans.
During the Oct. 19 council
meeting the motion to adopt
the new policy on victory rides
was defeated in a close vote.
Some councillors said they
remembered how excited
they were when they were
younger to do a victory ride
and were reluctant to take that
experience away from chil-
dren now.
iLa►►►�y�hKs1Li i
final polls and according to
the results and we have to
respect that. It's very
important that everyone
walks away celebrating a
remarkable victory for Jus-
tin Trudeau and the
Liberals."
The NDP's Creces was
hoping that voters would
do more than just talk
about making a change, at
least locally.
"A lot of people really do
believe that we need change
or something different," said
Creces.
"There were two camps --
the anyone but Harpers and
the ones who wanted some-
thing different but they did
not want to vote for
Trudeau."
But strategic voting never
really materialized in Huron -
Bruce as Lobb returned to
office rather easily.
Creces said he's not a fan
of voting against a candidate
rather than for someone.
"This whole concept of
strategic voting is getting
people involved in politics
for the wrong reasons," aid
Creces.
"You're not standing up
for what you believe in,
you're just expressly stating
what you don't like. There's
got to be more too it than
that. I think with strategic
voting people are compro-
mising their stances just
because they don't like
somebody instead of stand-
ing up for what they do
like?'
The Green Party's
i
•
Huron Superior
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Shaun Gregory Postmedia Network
A head-to-head political battle ends with a hand shake at the Candle Light Restaurant in Goderich.
Ben Lobb, Huron -Bruce Conservative MP (left) shakes hands with Liberal Allan Thompson.
Splettstoesser was hoping
for a solid showing but she
knows that raising her par-
ty's profile in Huron Bruce
is a long-term proposition.
"A lot of people still had
an understanding of the
Green Party that it's all
about the environment,"
Splettstoesser said.
"In this election, people
really appreciated to see
that the Green Party actu-
ally addressed the economy
in a different way (than the
other parties). I found a lot
of people prescribed to that
that themselves and they
see that the environment
and the economy are
connected."
And she tried to spread
that message as widely
throughout the riding as
possible.
"I tried to be in every com-
munity and not forget our
smallest communities," said
Splettsoesser who even visit-
ing Whitechurch near Luc -
know on a Saturday morning
during the campaign.
"People were super sur-
prised and they told me
that they'd never seen a
candidate (in their commu-
nity). There were quite a
few communities that were
forgotten by the other
major candidates."
With files from Troy Pat-
terson, Shaun Gregory.
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