Elizabeth May, co-leader of the Green Party of Canada, will return to the House of Commons after winning re-election in her British Columbia riding. CTV News declares May will serve a fifth term representing Saanich-Gulf Islands after defeating Conservative challenger Cathie Ounsted, Liberal candidate David Beckham and New Democrat Colin Plant. May was leading with about 39 per cent of the vote before 11 p.m., putting her comfortably ahead of Ounsted and Beckham, who each garnered less than 29 per cent of the counted ballots, while Plant had secured just four per cent of the vote. In her victory speech, May told supporters she had just received a congratulatory phone call from Prime Minister Mark Carney, whose Liberal party was projected to form a minority government after Monday’s vote. May described Carney as “a prime minister I have known for a few decades” May was first elected as an MP in 2011, and currently co-leads the Green Party alongside Jonathan Pedneault. May went into the election with optimism, saying the Greens are “more needed than ever.” Pedneault appeared destined to finish fifth in his Montreal riding of Outremont with less than 10 per cent of the vote, while Liberal candidate Rachel Bendayan was the clear winner with more than 54 per cent of the ballots counted from 106 of the 171 polls reporting. In a social media post, he suggested his time as a party co-leader was over. “I will meet with Elizabeth tomorrow to discuss my own future in politics and eventual transitions,” Pedneault wrote. “Accountability is needed and I failed to bring forth the results we hoped for. New progressive voices must emerge.” Both party leaders were excluded from the televised federal leaders debates, denying them a national audience as the party teetered on the brink of elimination across the country. Mike Morrice, the only other Green incumbent in this election, was lagging behind Conservative challenger Kelly DeRidder by just 400 votes in a close race in the Ontario riding of Kitchener Centre with 99.1 per cent of the vote counted. With files from The Canadian Press.
