Burnaby votes: Federal election results (UPDATED)

The election results are in and we’ve got your official update on federal and local Burnaby winners.

Here’s what you need to know:

Federal results

Liberal leader Justin Trudeau secured a minority government in Monday’s federal election, keeping the Liberals in power but ultimately failing in his attempt to secure a majority government.

As of 11:40pm PST on Monday, the Liberals had secured 158 seats (32.2%), followed by the Conservatives with 119 seats (34%), Bloc Québécois with 34 seats (7.8%), and the NDP with 25 seats (17.7%).

“The moment we face deserves real important change and you have given this parliament and government clear direction,” said Trudeau during his victory speech.

“To my fellow cans there is no greater honour than serving you and serving this country,” he continued.

Trudeau also addressed those who did not vote for the Liberals this election, telling them the party will continue to “stand up for you and work for you every single day.”

“No matter how you voted … I hear you. I hear you when you say we can only move forward if no one is left behind,” he said.

Conservative party leader Erin O’Toole spoke to supporters just before 9:30pm PST, painting the night as a win and citing the Liberals’ failure to secure a majority government.

“Canadians sent him back to another minority at the cost of $600 million,” he said.

O’Toole said Trudeau has already insinuated that Canadians will be back to the polls next year to finally achieve that minority, and “thrust us into what he has promised will be 18 months of perpetual campaigning.”

O’Toole then seemed to continue campaigning himself in a preamble of that, pointing to affordability issues across the country and what he called increasing division.

The NDP is eyeing some gains, with projected wins in 26 seats as of 11:40pm PST—up from 24 in the last election.

Singh danced into headquarters at around 10pm, accompanied by his wife and a group of masked supporters, but it was no doubt a less jovial occasion than 2 years prior.

The party leader began by congratulating Trudeau on his win and pledging that the New Democrats would “keep fighting” for affordability, more accessible healthcare, universal pharmacare and mental healthcare, and to “make the ultra-rich pay their share”.

Singh has a definitive lead in Burnaby South and Peter Julian is leading in New Westminster-Burnaby and both are projected to win in their respective ridings.

The number of seats each party is leading in could change as mail-in ballots are counted, but are not expected to alter the results of the election significantly.

Local Burnaby results

Burnaby South

Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has been re-elected in Burnaby South, leading in the riding as of 11:40pm PST with 39.8% of the vote. Liberal candidate Brea Huang Sami was at 30.6%, while Likky Lavji of the Conservatives had 22.7% and Green candidate Maureen Curran had 2.9%. 3.3% of the vote went to PPC candidate Marcella Williams, while independent candidate Martin Kendell had 0.7%.

New Westminster-Burnaby

In New Westminster-Burnaby, meanwhile, NDP candidate Peter Julian had a resounding victory with 47.8% of the vote, as last reported by Elections Canada at 10:30am on Tuesday. Julian has been an MP for the region since 2004.

In a post-election interview with Burnaby Beacon, Julian said he felt “gratified” that he was reelected by his constituents, who he referred to as his “bosses.”

“But I never take that support for granted. And I think my constituents know that, that I feel every election type campaign is a job renewal, and I work hard to get the contract renewal from, from my bosses,” he stated.

The NDP did not come away with an orange wave this election but Julian remained positive. “Well, the NDP is the only party that actually gained seats. And so the message from the Canadian public across the country was ‘Mr. Trudeau, no, you don’t get a majority. You don’t deserve a majority.’ I think there were many people upset with him calling an election in the middle of a pandemic,” he added.

Liberal candidate Rozina Jaffer trailed with 23.9%, while the Conservative’s Paige Munro sat at 20.1%, and the Greens’ David McDonald had 4.2% of the vote.

Burnaby-North Seymour

The battle to watch was in Burnaby North-Seymour, where incumbent Liberal Terry Beech defeated veteran NDPer Svend Robinson by less than 1,600 votes in 2019. Beech widened the gap this year.

The NDP has traditionally held down in the Burnaby side of the riding, while the Liberals have taken the North Vancouver vote. But NDP candidate Jim Hanson, a 2-time District of North Vancouver councillor, believed his longstanding ties to that community might gain the party the upper hand in Burnaby North-Seymour.

NDP leader and Burnaby South candidate Singh certainly felt that was a possibility, spending a lot of time in Burnaby North-Seymour during the campaign—including 2 separate stops on the day before election day alone.

But as of 10:30am Tuesday morning, the gap between Beech and Hanson had grown to nearly 4,800 votes. Beech held 39.4% of the vote, compared to Hanson’s 29%, Conservative Kelsey Shein’s 25.7%, Green Peter Dolling’s 3.1%, and People’s Party candidate Brad Nickerson’s 2.9%.

“I’ve spent a lot of time making sure that we’re keeping our casework up for the people that come in with concerns, and no matter what those concerns are, we’re taking them seriously,” Beech said about why he made gains over the previous election.

“I think something that’s helped is: I can honestly say, after 6 years, that I’m a more experienced member of Parliament. I am a more effective member. I have an ability to get things done.”