For the fourth consecutive election, Delta voters have again chosen a Liberal Party candidate to represent them in the House of Commons.
Former Delta Chamber of Commerce executive director Jill McKnight was elected as Delta’s member of Parliament Monday night (April 28), winning a tight back-and-forth contest against Conservative Party hopeful Jessy Sahota.
Preliminary results published Tuesday show McKnight received 32,305 votes (51.1 per cent of ballots tallied) to Sahota’s 27,157 (42.9 per cent), with all 208 polls reporting.
NDP candidate Jason McCormick finished third with 3,384 votes (5.4 per cent), while Natasa Sirotic with the People's Party of Canada had 390 (0.6 per cent).
Speaking with the Reporter Monday night, McKnight described watching the results slowly come in as “surreal,” but said she is excited and ready to work for Delta.”
“I feel very honoured to have been selected.”
She described the campaign as fast and with a lot of moving parts, before saying she was fortunate to have had an incredible team behind her.
“When you've got incredible people and you're all going towards a common goal, and when you just feel like something in your heart is the right thing to do, then you're where you're meant to be. So, I'm so grateful for the opportunity, and now it's time to get down to the hard work.”
Among her first tasks, she said, will be to meet her new colleagues and get up to speed “as quickly as possible.”
“I've said throughout the campaign [that] the campaign was short; that was my introduction to people. Now the conversation and the relationships build. So I'm going to continue to be out in the community, meeting people and strengthening those relationships.”
Speaking at her campaign’s election night party at Delta Golf & Country Club, McKnight thanked everyone for their hard work over the past 41 days, and her family for their unwavering support, words of encouragement, patience and love.
“[It’s] what has carried me through this every single day. Your belief in me is the greatest gift, and I love you all.”
McKnight opened her remarks by thanking the other candidates, saying their participation is what allows democracy to thrive.
“I recognize the personal investment that each of them has made, the courage, the risk, and their hard work. Thank you to them for their engagement in our community.”
Calling the event a “night of gratitude,” McKnight thanked her volunteers for their courage and commitment and her campaign staff for inspiring, challenging and teaching her.
“You’ve reminded me of the power of a collective purpose,” she said. “This was a team effort in every sense.”
McKnight singled out her predecessor, former MP Carla Qualtrough, and campaign manager Bernadette Kudzin, thanking them for their support and encouragement.
“It’s no secret that when you approached me about running, I looked around and thought I was in the wrong room. In fact, you had to ask me more than once, which I’ve since come to learn is quite common for women in politics,” McKnight said, before thanking all those who worked behind the scenes to lay the groundwork before the “official ask.”
“Thank you for seeing the potential in me. I’m so glad you did.”
McKnight recounted the first conversion she had about running, when a Liberal Party representative told her “no one who ever runs regrets it.”
“I admit, at the time, I said ‘I think they were giving me a sales pitch.’ But now I understand completely,” she said.
“There is an extraordinary community of people who care deeply about our democracy and our country, people who give of themselves, who put their lives on hold, who rearrange their schedules, miss family events, celebrate their birthdays on a campaign, all because they believe in the possibility of what Canada can be. It is now humbling to be a part of that group."
McKnight said that, without a doubt, the best part of the campaign was the people she met along the way.
“The connections, the conversations and the stories, the hard questions and the honest dialogue; even in the tough moments, they were the most meaningful because they remind me how deeply people care about our country,” she said.
“Delta is remarkable, and it keeps getting better. So tonight, let’s celebrate, let’s take in all that we’ve accomplished, and tomorrow — well, maybe tomorrow, or Wednesday — we get to work. The next chapter begins, and I'm honoured beyond words to serve as your member of Parliament.”
Speaking with the Reporter, former MP Carla Qualtrough, who introduced McKnight to those assembled Monday night, credited McKnight and her team for putting together an “incredibly well-run” campaign.
“Jill and the team have worked really hard. They've connected with thousands of people all around Delta and tonight's results show that good people who work hard can really make a difference in the world. And I have absolutely every belief that Jill is going to be such an amazing member of Parliament for Delta,” Qualtrough said.
“When I decided not to run again, my only hope was that we could find someone who would care as much about the community and work as hard, and we've done that in spades with Jill. And Delta agreed. So I'm very lucky she said, yes, and I'm very lucky Delta said yes to her.”
McKnight, who has never held public office before, will sit as part of the new minority Liberal government under first-time Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Asked what she thought about the new government led by Carney and his team of new faces, Qualtrough said the prime minister is an exceptional leader, and “exactly the leader that our country needs right now.”
“I think he's got some big challenges ahead of him. Looking at the team that got elected today, the Liberal team, I think the country's in very good hands. And I think we all now have to unite as a country behind him and behind the government because there's a lot going on in the world, and it isn't time to be divisive or to be petty; it’s time to unite and get to work and make our country great.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, Elections Canada data shows Liberal candidates elected in 169 ridings, with 43.7 per cent of the vote. To form a majority government, the party needed to win 172 seats.
The Conservatives have 144 seats with 41.3 per cent of the vote, while the Bloc Québécois has 22 seats and 6.3 per cent of the vote.
The NDP have the same share of the vote (6.3 per cent) but far fewer seats (seven), meaning they will likely lose official party status (12 seats are required).
The remaining seat was won by Green Party co-Leader Elizabeth May, while her party took home 1.2 per cent of the vote overall.
May, Carney and the Bloc Québécois' Yves-François Blanchet were the only party leaders to win their ridings. Conservative Pierre Poilievre, NPD Leader Jagmeet Singh, Green Party co-Leader Jonathan Pedneault and People's Party head Maxime Bernier all lost their respective races.
In B.C., seats are fairly evenly divided between the Liberals (20) and Conservatives (19), with three seats for the NDP and one for the Greens.
All of the Liberal, NDP and Green seats were won in the Lower Mainland, on the Sunshine Coast, on Vancouver Island and in Kelowna.
With over 99 per cent of polls reporting in as of Tuesday afternoon, voter turnout nationally sits at 68.63 per cent (19,577,512 of 28,525,638 registered electors) — a figure which does not include electors who registered on election day.
In Delta, 63,236 of 85,163 registered electors cast a ballot, for voter turnout of 74.25 per cent.
According to latest census, the riding — which includes all of the city of Delta and Tsawwassen First Nation, as well as a small sliver of Surrey — has a population of 117,734.
