ASSINIBOIA - Incumbent Conservative MP candidate Jeremy Patzer had a solid victory to retain his seat in the Cypress-Hills Grasslands riding, with 23,855 votes as reported in the preliminary results on Tuesday morning. This accounted for 71.9 per cent of the vote. The entire province voted in Conservative candidates in all 14 ridings.
Nationally, the Liberal party won another minority government, and had 158 seats across the country, while the Conservatives were in second place with 119 seats.
“The results in Cypress-Hills Grasslands matched what I had heard as I toured around the riding, and it was great to see all 14 ridings in the province also go blue,” said Patzer, during a telephone interview on Tuesday morning.
“It remains to see what will happen (when we return to Parliament). Trudeau will need another party to work with, and he had the cooperation of the NDP party before as long as he didn’t call a pandemic election. He broke his promise, so we will have to see what the NDP will do, or if they will offer their hand again.”
As Patzer returns to his role of MP, he knows the challenges of representing a large riding such as the Cypress-Hills Grasslands. “It will be important to talk about the rural perspective, and continuing to focus on small businesses, the energy sector and agriculture sector. We have to prioritize our policies and remind the Liberals that it is never a ‘one-size fits all’ approach. Hopefully we will show the people of Canada the value of voting Conservative when we return to Parliament.”
There were three important Conservative wins in other parts of the country, as three Liberal ministers were ousted from their seats (two in Ontario, one in Newfoundland). “When we see this happening, it makes us aware that these Liberal ministers had done nothing on their file, and people wanted to make a change for the better. It also speaks to our record as Conservatives, and the further changes we could make, if we were to form government.”
Patzer had a lot of appreciation for his campaign manager, and the volunteers who worked on his campaign team during the election. He said there was a lot of touring around the riding, and getting an opportunity to be introduced to voters.
Alex McPhee, NDP candidate, had 3,375 votes for second place in the riding, which accounts 10.2 per cent. Charles Reginald Hislop with the People’s Party had 2,807 votes, which was 8.5 per cent. Mackenzie Hird of the Liberal Party had 1,398 votes, which was 4.2 per cent. Mark Skagen of the Maverick Party had 1,284 votes, which was 3.9 per cent. Carol Vandale of the Green Party had 272 votes, which was 0.8 per cent. Independent candidate Maria Rose Lewans had 187 votes, which was 0.6 per cent.
