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Liberal Jati Sidhu is congratulated by supporters after winning the riding of Mission-Matsqui-Fraser Canyon Monday evening.
Sidhu joins Liberal wave in B.C. Jati Sidhu ekes out a win to join Liberal majority government in Ottawa
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Election . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Woman ghts for life . . . 5 Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Mail Bag . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Classieds . . . . . . . . . 14
Liberal Jati Sidhu has been elected as the Member of Parliament for MissionMatsqui-Fraser Canyon. The race was called shortly after 1 a.m., after a nail-biter evening showing Sidhu and Conservative Brad Vis in a close race as results slowly rolled in. The final vote tally for the evening was 16,606 votes for Sidhu and 15,547 for Vis. NDP candidate Dennis Adamson came in third with 9,167 votes. Overall, voter turnout was close to 70 per cent — a significant increase from below 60 per cent estimated from redistributed results of the 2011 federal election. Sidhu's campaign event,
at the Abbotsford Banquet Centre, was attended by a large group of friends and supporters — about 100 stayed all night to hear his victory speech. "It's exhilirating. The fruit ripens when it stays longer on the vine," Sidhu said. He's already thought about his first priorities when he gets to Ottawa. "Being a farmer, I’ll have to look after agricultural sustainability. And infrastructure — that’s another goal I have in mind," Sidhu said. "I’m pretty sure we’re going to be spending a lot of money on roads and bridges, I’d love to work with the municipalities and local government to make
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that happen." He insisted on the importance of supply management programs and stakeholder input in agricultural and trade policy. "We are operating a nation. But I need my stakeholders sitting on the table...I know first hand being a farmer how hard it is if you don’t know what you’re getting into it. Supply management is a bread and butter for a lot of farmers, and we have (thousands) of dairy farmers in this country, we need to protect their interest. They have generations and generations into that business." His well-attended
campaign event showed the dedication of supporters, volunteers and friends. "I can’t thank them enough. I think I said it in Punjabi, that I want to pay it back by serving my constituents. .It doesn’t matter who they voted for, I’m going to be representing the whole Mission-MatsquiFraser Canyon." Although the race was still uncertain at 11:20 p.m. on Monday, Conservative contender Brad Vis saw Sidhu's small but consistent lead and opted to give a concession speech. Vis said he was disappointed with the results, which at that point had Sidhu just 700 votes
ahead in the battle that had gone back and forth all night. "We are devastated but life is bigger than politics and who runs government," Vis said at the Elks Hall in Mission, with wife Kat by his side. Vis, who was at times tearful, said he was "really, really disappointed," but thanked his supporters for "doing everything right." Although more than 35 polls had yet to report at that point, most of those were in the Fraser Canyon, which is predominantly NDP territory, and Vis didn't expect Sidhu's lead to wane. Sidhu and Vis battled it Continued on 2
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