the Member of Parliament for Burnaby-Douglas
By DAVID WEIR
Bill Siksay has succeeded his former boss to become the Member of Parliament for Burnaby-Douglas.
New Democrat Siksay eked out a narrow victory over Liberal Bill Cunningham in Monday’s federal election. Conservative George Drazenovic finished third.
“Tomorrow the challenges begin. I want to say I’m anxious to get started, but oh my god, I’m tired,” Siksay told his supporters. “But I am anxious to get started.”
Siksay’s win marks the beginning of a new chapter for the riding. It’s the first time in 25 years that someone not named Svend has won the riding.
Svend Robinson was going to run for re-election, but instead took a sudden and dramatic leave from politics last April when he admitted stealing an expensive ring from a jewelry auction in Richmond.
Robinson, who celebrated the 25th anniversary of his first election to parliament in May, now faces charges of theft over $5,000 and is scheduled to make his first court appearance July 8.
Those events left New Democrats scrambling to find a candidate. And it was two days into the campaign before Siksay, who was Robinson’s executive assistant for 19 years, beat out Burnaby city councillor Pietro Calendino for the nomination.
Although Siksay was last out of the blocks, he crossed the finish line first Monday night.
With 201 of 203 polls reporting, Siksay had 15,470 votes compared to Cunningham’s 14,544 and Drazenovic’s 12,323.
The results were tighter than many had expected. The NDP released internal polling numbers last week that showed Siksay on his way to an easy victory in the riding. The same poll predicted Drazenovic would finish a close second and Cunningham a distant third.
Instead, it was a tight race, with all three laying claim to the lead at different points during the night.
Despite his defeat, Cunningham remained upbeat about the result.
“I know how tough it was facing a riding that’s been NDP for 25 years,” Cunningham said. “And even though it’s staying NDP in this election, I think we raised a lot of eyebrows here. Just wait until next time.”
In the past few elections, Liberal candidates were best described as also-rans who watched their hopes all but disappear as soon as the first of the polls reported.
This time around, Cunningham was in it until the end. And that gave him rise for hope.
“We felt at the outset that we were going to be in it until the end,” Cunningham said. “I know a lot of people didn’t think that was going to be the case, so by the end of the night, the feeling that I would say we felt the most was pride it wasn’t disappointment.”
Siksay was one who expected a poorer result from the Liberals.
“I’m surprised that they’ve done as well as they have and that they did as well as they did in Burnaby-Douglas,” he said. “I think they came on late in the campaign. I think their last week of the campaign was very effective for them.”
Siksay wasn’t high on Cunningham’s chances because of how the president of the Liberal Party of Canada in B.C. earned his nomination; Prime Minister Paul Martin appointed Cunningham ahead of two other party hopefuls.
“It was a mistake from the very beginning to stomp on the democratic aspirations of legitimate Liberal party members in this riding,” Siksay said. “That didn’t serve them well in this riding.”
Siksay heads to Ottawa one of 19 NDP MPs. Nationally, the Liberals won 135 seats, while the Conservatives gained 99 and Bloc Quebecois 54. Chuck Cadman was also elected as an independent in Surrey.
The Liberals’ 135 seats is 20 shy of the 155 they needed to form a majority government, but still enough for a minority government, raising the possibility of a coalition with the NDP.
And that’s a prospect welcomed by Siksay.
“Minority governments have often been good governments for Canadians and I’m proud to be part of that tradition.”
Full results (201 of 203 polls reporting)
Bill Siksay (NDP) 15,470 34.6%
Bill Cunnigham (Lib.) 14,544 32.6%
George Drazenovic (Cons.) 12,323 27.6%
Shawn Hunsdale (Green) 1,655 3.7%
Adam Desaulniers (Libertarian) 288 0.6%
Frank Cerminara (Ind.) 276 0.6%
Hanne Gidora (Com.) 123 0.3%
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