Foothills constituents have overwhelmingly voted to send John Barlow back to Ottawa with over 80 per cent of the vote.
Barlow, the Conservative incumbent, was declared the winner in the Foothills riding at 8 p.m. on Oct. 21 to applause and cheers from the more than 150 people at his election celebration at Big Sky BBQ.
"The numbers we had today, it's extremely humbling," said Barlow. "The people who support us, support my team, that means more than I can say."
As of 9:30 p.m., Barlow had 38,962 votes (81.4 per cent); Liberal Cheryl Moller, 2,978; Mikhail Hendi, 2,944 votes; Green Party's Bridget Lacey, 1,819 votes; and People’s Party of Canada’s Greg Hession, 1,276.
Though he won in Foothills, Barlow will likely sit with the Opposition as it is expected to be a Liberal minority government. Unofficially. the Liberals had 157 seats, the Conservatives, 121; the Bloc Québécois, 32; the NDP, 24; the Greens, 3; and there was one independent, Jody Wilson-Raybould in British Columbia.
"It's certainly a bittersweet night," said Barlow. "We were obviously hoping for a much better result. We're happy with winning here first, but it's a bittersweet night."
He said the most surprising part of the results came from Quebec, where 32 seats were taken by the Bloc Québécois.
"No one anticipated or predicted the rise of the Bloc," said Barlow. "They were nowhere to be found heading into this campaign.
"We were really looking forward to a good breakthrough in Quebec, and Atlantic Canada as well, we were hoping to get half the seats back and that didn't happen."
He said the results of the election show the polarization he's felt in Canada, and he said there is going to be a lot of work for the Conservatives moving forward.
Moller said while not surprised she lost to Barlow, she was delighted the Liberals will be forming the government of some sort.
“I don’t know what it means for the Foothills, but I know that it means we (the Liberals) can go ahead with our agenda on climate action and others,” said Moller, who lives in Calgary.
She said she expects the Trans Mountain Pipeline to go ahead.
“The shovels are in the ground,” Moller said. “I don’t know what is wrong with Alberta, they just don’t get it.
“I have been an advocate for the pipeline.”
She was shocked that she was able to finish second in the Foothills.
She said Barlow was a deserving winner who worked hard for the votes.
NDP candidate Mikhail Hendi, of Calgary, said it was an exciting evening and he expects the NDP to have some say in the minority government.
“I was excited to see how the night transpired,” Hendi said. “It was a memorable race for me, and I hope it was for John as well.
“My congratulations as well.”
With projections of a Liberals minority, he was optimistic the NDP would have a significant say in the next government.
“I am optimistic — not all of the seats have been reported, there is still room,” Hendi said. “It’s tough to say what the NDP will do, it’s up to Jagmeet (NDP leader Jagmeet Singh) to decide.”
He doubts there will be any NDP dealings with the Conservatives.
“They (the NDP) will definitely side with the Liberals than with the Conservatives,” Hendi said. “We will just have to see.”
Green Party candidate Bridget Lacey said she was hoping to edge out Hendi and Moller, who did not live in the Foothills riding.
“It looked like we just followed the pattern — the Liberals were the second choice in this part of the world,” said Lacey, who lives in the Turner Valley area.
She said she felt she was able to get the Green message out — but it was a tough job in very strong Conservative country.
The Green Party had three seats when Lacey spoke with the Wheel but the British Columbia vote wasn’t in yet. She said she hoped the party would have as many as seven seats.
She said the Green Party is more aligned with the Progressive vote — which includes the NDP. She believes the minority will be able to be held together.
Hession said he learned from the race.
“I thought the PPC would have done better,” Hession said. “Because we are a new party we have to take satisfaction in small victories. I have full intention to run again. I do believe in the values the PPC represents.”
He said he was surprised party leader Maxime Bernier lost his seat in Quebec.
“It’s disappointing for the party,” he said. “I knew it was a close riding. We will have to see how it works out.”
All but one of the 34 seats in Alberta went Conservative. The NDP’s Heather McPherson was declared in Edmonton-Strathcona.
In the overall vote across Canada, the Conservatives took the majority of the vote with 6,153,241 votes (34.4 per cent) to the Liberals 5,911,879.
Barlow, the former editor of the Okotoks Western Wheel, was first elected as the Macleod MP during a byelection in 2014 to replace the retired Ted Menzies.He was elected to the newly-formed Foothills riding in 2015, which he won by one of the biggest margins in the country, receiving 75.7 per cent of the vote.
Barlow’s first foray into politics was in the 2012 provincial election when, as a Progressive Conservative under Alison Redford’s leadership, he lost to Wildrose leader Danielle Smith in the 2013 election.
