Marilyn Gladu will serve as Sarnia-Lambton-Bkejwanong’s MP, but not in government.

While the ballots are still being counted, the Liberals will form the next government. At 1 am, April 29, the party is leading or elected in 169 seats while the Conservatives are elected or leading in 149 seats. The NDP is leading or elected in eight seats. The party’s leader, Jagmeet Singh, lost his seat and resigned as leader of the party. The Bloc Quebecois claimed 23 seats in Quebec.

With just under 90 per cent of the vote counted, the Liberals have just 200,000 or so votes more than the Conservatives at this point.

Elections Canada says voter turn out in the riding, with 90 per cent of the polls reporting, was over 66 per cent.

“I won’t let you down”

Cathy Dobson/The Independent

Once it became clear that incumbent MP Marilyn Gladu won more than 50 per cent of the Sarnia-Lambton-Bkejwanong vote, she walked to the podium in front of about 60 supporters gathered at the Royal Canadian Naval Association and pledged to keep working hard for her riding.

“To all who donated so generously, thank you.  I won’t let you down,” she told the cheering crowd.  “For Sarnia-Lambton-Bkejwanong, this is a challenging time.  We need to build affordable housing. We need to create prosperity locally. 

“And we need to address threats from the south,” Gladu said, referring to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and talk of Canada becoming a 51^st state.

“I will work hard to be a strong voice for you. I have a lot of experience in negotiating and bringing good solutions. That’s my promise to you.”

Gladu said voters were extremely engaged this election campaign, far more than in 2021, and she anticipates the final numbers will reflect a high voter turnout.

She said she heard “loud and clear” while campaigning that local constituents are concerned about the cost of living and healthcare. She said that she will advocate to convert the former Lambton Generating Station near Port Lambton into a co-generation facility that will create local jobs.  She’ll also go after funding for the numerous roads and bridges that need upgrading across rural Lambton County, Gladu said.

While she enjoyed a solid victory that will see her serve a fourth term, she’ll continue to represent Sarnia-Lambton-Bkejwanong as a member of the opposition. 

“The Conservative Party needs to reflect on this election and what was not a resonating message,” she said.  “Here, we’ve done well, but if we didn’t do well across the country – and we’ll wait to see those final results – I think there will be a leadership review.  And after that, where is the Conservative Party going to arrive?”

“We tried”

Tara Jeffrey/The Independent

“All we can do is say we tried.”

That’s what George Vandenberg told his family Monday night as news that incumbent MP Marilyn Gladu was likely to win her fourth consecutive election.

Vandenberg, along with about 40 others — family, friends and campaign volunteers — gathered at the Best Western in Point Edward to celebrate their campaign and watch live results on CBC News.

Many watched closely as results trickled in after polls closed at 9:30 p.m. Family and campaign team members told The Independent they were feeling nervous, while a relaxed Vandenberg was smiling, beer in hand, chatting, and seemingly enjoying the night.

The room erupted as Mark Carney’s Liberals were projected to form government just after 10 p.m.

Shortly after, projections showed Gladu had secured her seat, and had already began cutting her cake.

“It was a great ride — we had fun,” Vandenberg said, surrounded by wife Barb, son Kerry, daughter Liana and son-in-law Kevin. “We got to meet and talk to a whole lot of people; got the whole family involved… how can you complain about that?”

As supporters began trickling out, Rhinoceros Party candidate Tony Mitchell arrived to shake hands with Vandenberg, who then stepped outside to call Gladu.

“I want to just say what a great campaign you ran,” she told him, via speaker phone.

“You’ve been a great city councillor, and I look forward to more years of your leadership.”

“You kind of can’t vote with your heart sometimes”

Heather Wright/The Independent

After spending Election Day knocking on doors to get out the vote; Lo-Anne Chan was not going to wait to find out the final results.

Chan and a handful of her supporters gathered at Greens in downtown Sarnia April 28, but it was clear early the NDP would be in third place in the Sarnia-Lambton-Bkejwanong riding.

Chan says it was clear at the doors people would not be voting NDP because of the US trade war.

“Straight to my face, people have said that before; ‘We believe you are the best candidate, but we feel like we still need to vote to save Canada by voting for Mark Carney,'” she says noting they told people that they still needed to choose their local MP which is very important. But, Chan says many people voted out of fear.

“We did the best we could this way, like, put everything out there, and it’s up for you to hear and decide if you want to vote with your heart, or if you want to vote out of fear, whatever it is, it’s your choice.

“I understand that a lot of the reasons that people are saying this is it’s really out of fear, right? And the way that our system is built, with the first pass the post, you kind of can’t vote with your heart sometimes, and feel like you can’t.”

Chan, who garnered about five per cent of the vote, plans to continue talking with people about engaging with their local MP and MPPs and hold them to account for their votes in the next four years.