Star Conservative candidates in Nova Scotia struggle to make gains for party

Defeated candidate George Canyon talks loss Conservative candidate George Canyon discusses his loss and campaign efforts.

REGINA -- Mixed results for the Conservatives in Atlantic Canada Monday night have the party on edge as polls close in Ontario and Quebec.

The party had been hoping for several high-profile pickups in the eastern part of Canada, after the Liberal swept the region in 2015.

It was that sweep that, on election night in 2015, signalled the start of what would become an overwhelming Liberal majority government.

The results in the region tonight were expected to be a bellwether for what lies ahead in the 2019 election.

Country music star George Canyon -- and Conservative party candidate -- is singing the blues as the party failed to pick up his seat in the historic Tory riding of Central Nova.

The party also ran relatively high-profile candidates in the Cape Breton area where there were no incumbents. One, Alfie McLeod, has failed to win his seat, while in the other area riding, the results are neck-and-neck.

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer had visited Nova Scotia earlier this week, and had also travelled through New Brunswick.

There, the party is picking up seats: two former Conservative MPs for New Brunswick, John Williamson and Rob Moore, will both be returning to the House of Commons.

Scheer is in his home riding of Regina-Qu'appelle tonight, watching the results come in.

Early Monday, he and his wife Jill cast their own ballots at the local polling station, their five children in tow.

Scheer had spent part of the day helping get out the vote in ReTorygina-area ridings.

He spent about a half an hour going from house to house in a neighbourhood of single-family homes with manicured lawns already decorated for Hallowe'en, and SUVs and pickup trucks in the driveways.

It is residents of neighbourhoods like this one the Conservatives are hoping to woo over this campaign, designing a platform filled with pocketbook promises targeted at young families.

Scheer hit about 15 houses during his canvass, hanging voting information on doors where there was no one home, and engaging briefly with those who did answer the door.

One man told him that while he's long supported the party, his daughter would be casting her first ballot ever this campaign -- and it would be Tory blue.

"Thanks so much for your support," Scheer.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Oct. 21, 2019.