Conservative Alex Ruff has been re-elected to Parliament, capturing roughly 49 percent of the Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound votes. Ruff will return to a Parliament that won’t look much different than prior to the election call as the Liberals will again form a minority government.
As of Tuesday morning, published election results showed that Ruff had earned nearly 28,000 votes, almost 14,000 more votes than Liberal candidate Anne Marie Watson who captured roughly 14,000 votes, or 25 percent of votes cast. NDP candidate Christopher Neudorf finished third with nearly 7,800 votes accounting for roughly 14 percent of votes cast by BGOS voters.
Ruff was first elected to parliament in 2019 after long-time Conservative MP Larry Miller retired. Ruff’s 49 percent of the riding’s votes is an increase from the 46.1 percent he received in the 2019 election. Like most candidates in this year’s election, the retired Army Colonel was unable to undertake the traditional door-knock campaign due to the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions.
Tuesday morning’s unofficial election results showed the Liberals elected in 146 ridings and leading in another 12, while the Conservatives had been elected in 119 ridings and were leading in three ridings. The NDP had captured 24 seats and were leading in one other riding as of Tuesday morning.
In spite of a 36 day election campaign, and an election that has cost Canadians a reported $600 million, Parliament will be virtually unchanged, and a Liberal led minority government will return to the House of Commons.
Voter turnout data was not yet available on Tuesday morning however some were forecasting a low turnout due to voter frustrations with an election call in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal party were neither rewarded nor punished by voters for the early election call.
In spite of earning a second minority government, Trudeau suggested in his victory speech on Tuesday morning that Canadians are “sending us back to work with a clear mandate to get Canada through this pandemic and to brighter days ahead. The moment we face demands real, important change, and you have given this Parliament and this government clear direction.”
