Tara Jeffrey/The Independent

George Vandenberg was all smiles Monday night surrounded by friends and family at the Best Western for his election night celebration. You wouldn’t have known he’d lost his bid to become Sarnia-Lambton-Bkejwanong’s next MP.

“It’s been a great ride,” said the 71-year-old Sarnia City Councillor who swiftly threw his hat into the ring after Mark Carney called a snap election earlier this year. “We got to meet all kinds of people…got the whole family involved; how can you complain about that?”

About 40 people were gathered for food, drinks, and live viewing of the election results as numbers trickled in after polls closed at 9:30 p.m.

“I’m really anxious, really excited, and really hopeful,” Vandenberg’s daughter Liana Smith said earlier in the evening, a sentiment echoed by her brother Kerry.

Both told The Independent their dad was the perfect candidate because he’s beloved by so many in the community, joking that it’s ‘kind of hard for us to live up to it sometimes.’

“He has a long history of friendships and connections,” Smith said of Vandenberg, who served as a police officer in Sarnia and Point Edward before opening George Vandenberg Traffic Ticket Defence.

“And he’s just a normal guy — he’s approachable, he shows up — people really love him, and so do we.”

Meanwhile, a relaxed Vandenberg, beer in hand, watched the big screen alongside wife Barb as more poll numbers rolled in. Early on, he was leading by 49 votes with seven polls reporting.

Shortly after 10 pm, the room erupted as CBC News projected a Liberal government; but the mood shifted amid rumblings that Gladu was projected to win her fourth consecutive election.

“All we can do is say we tried,” Vandenberg said, shaking hands as campaign volunteers began to trickle out.

“We fought an uphill battle and we knew it. But I’m always going to be optimistic.”
Vandenberg’s performance in the election was the best showing for the Liberals since Roger Gallaway served four terms in the Liberal government from 1993 to 2006.

His time in office was book ended by wins by the Progressive Conservatives; Gallaway defeated Ken James to take power and, in turn was defeated by Wyoming’s Pat Davidson when Stephen Harper’s Conservatives took power in 2006.

Since then, the Liberals have often run third in federal polling. In the 2021 election, the NDPs Adam Kilner was Gladu’s closest rival less than 12,000 votes. The Liberal’s Lois Nantis had 1,000 less in the election that gave Justin Trudeau a minority government.

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.”
Vandenberg — who has worked over the years with the Sarnia & District Humane Society, Bright’s Grove Optimist Club, John Howard Society, Sexual Assault Survivors’ Centre — joked that he’ll be heading ‘back to his old job’ this week at City Hall.

“I want people to know I care about this community,” he said. “And maybe some of the public didn’t look at that; but I’m committed to this community, and I’m glad to do it.”

“This right here,” he added, pointing across the table to his children who were by his side through to the end of the night, “This is my team, my success.

“So I lost tonight, but I didn’t lose tonight, you know?”

And he’s not ruling anything out for the future.

“I was glad to do it — I might do it again,” he said with a smile. “We’ll see what happens.”